The Unknown God: Religious And Theological Interculturation (Religions and Discourse)

The Unknown God: A Cognitive Semantic Perspective Religious and Theological Interculturation

Thomas G. Grenham

PETER LANG

The Unknown God

Religions and Discourse Edited by James M. M. Francis Volume 25

PETER LANG Oxford • Bern • Berlin • Bruxelles • Frankfurt am Main • New York • Wien

Thomas G. Grenham

The Unknown God Religious and Theological A Cognitive Semantic Perspective Interculturation

The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light (Luke 16:8)

PETER LANG Oxford • Bern • Berlin • Bruxelles • Frankfurt am Main • New York • Wien

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at ‹http://dnb.ddb.de›. British Library and Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data: A catalogue record for this book is available from The British Library, Great Britain, and from The Library of Congress, USA

ISSN 1422-8998 ISBN 3-03910-261-3 US-ISBN 0-8204-7190-9

© Peter Lang AG, European Academic Publishers, Bern 2005 Hochfeldstrasse 32, Postfach 746, CH-3000 Bern 9, Switzerland [email protected], www.peterlang.com, www.peterlang.net All rights reserved. All parts of this publication are protected by copyright. Any utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution. This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems. Printed in Germany

This book is dedicated to my parents Michael Joe and Maureen Grenham for their faithfulness and love

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Contents

Figures Acknowledgements

11 13

General Introduction Personal Motivation Revisioning Christian Evangelisation The Vision Worldwide Implications Organisation of Content

15 15 16 17 18 22

Chapter One Christian Mission in History Introduction A. Imposing the Christian Faith B. A New Consciousness Emerges

27 27 28 46

Chapter Two Religious and Theological Interculturation Introduction A. Beyond Inculturation B. Evaluating Interculturation C. Universal and Contextual Meaning

63 63 64 75 79

Chapter Three Biblical and Theological Supports for a Liberative Interculturation Introduction A. The Encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (Jn.4:1–42) B. The Syrophoenician Woman Transforms Jesus (Mk.7:24–30; Mt.15:21–28) C. Liberative Theology as an Intercultural Communicative Praxis

89 89 90 105 116

Chapter Four Historical Seeds of Interculturation Introduction A. Matteo Ricci – Pioneer Missionary among the Chinese B. The Social and Ecclesial Context in which Ricci Evangelised C. Ricci’s Missionary Approach and Method of Engaging the Chinese People Chapter Five The Cultural and Religious Context of the Turkana Introduction A. The Turkana of Kenya B. Signs of the Reign of God – Observing the ‘Seeds’ of the Gospel C. Transformative Interaction between the Christian World View and Turkana World View The Pedagogical Methodology of Interculturation Introduction A. The Nature of Religious/Theological Interculturation B. The Purpose of Religious Interculturation C. Interreligious Conversational Praxis within Communities of Faith

131 131 132 139 153 167 167 168 183 202

Chapter Six

211 211 212 223 236

Chapter Seven Imagining a New Global Intercultural Religious Consciousness Introduction A. Reshaping Christian Evangelisation B. Interculturation for Justice in a Shared World C. Reconciliation and Peace in an Interconnected World

257 257 259 268 278

General Conclusion Another Theological Concept? Religious Evangelisation Concerns Regarding Interculturation Why Christian Mission?

287 287 288 289 290

8

Postscript

Stoking the Embers of Solidarity within Intercultural Relationships

Select Bibliography Index

293 297 313

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Figures

1 2 3 4 5 6.1 6.2 6.3 7

Religious and theological interculturation The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan Woman The Syrophoenician Woman’s transformation of Jesus Elements of Matteo Ricci’s accommodation strategy The Turkana religious world view Guiding principles for conversation The evolution of an intentional conversation The Gospel uncovered Imagining global religious and cultural interdependence

65 107 115 158 183 240 245 254 286

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Acknowledgements

Writing a book such as this can be likened to someone painting a magnificent landscape. With each stroke of the brush, something new is revealed about the landscape, something fresh is uncovered deep within the painter, and something worthy is evoked for the collective consciousness of society. Such a task is performed not in isolation but in life-giving relationships with many others who faithfully and patiently live their truth so as to coax, nurture, and challenge my own awakening to the truth. I am very grateful for their faithful friendship, wise counsel, and committed faith. I am indebted to some special friends: Thomas H. Groome (Boston College), Margaret E. Guider, O.S.F. (Weston Jesuit School of Theology), and Otherine J. Neisler (Yale) for their generous time and sustained conversations which enabled this book to emerge into the light. I acknowledge with gratitude the faculty, staff, and students of the Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry at Boston College who have, educationally, professionally, and spiritually, accompanied me in my learning and understanding of the issues developed in this book. I thank my fellow missionaries of St. Patrick’s Missionary Society for supporting me while writing the book. I am particularly grateful to Pádraig Ó’Máille, S.P.S., for his enthusiasm for this work, his incisive insights, and his editing skills. In many ways my missionary colleagues have motivated and nourished me by their friendship and experience in the field of mission around the world. Without them, I may not have had the opportunity of knowing and being in significant relationship with the people of Turkana, Kenya. I am especially grateful to the Turkana people who have taught me many good things about life in the desert. This community helped me discover an aspect of Akuj (God) I had not met in my life. To the faculty, staff, and students at the Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy, Dublin, Ireland, where I lecture on topics

related to this book, I extend sincere appreciation for their intelligent understanding, intuitive wisdom, and creative criticism. A special gratitude to Sr. Mary Anne Gallagher, O.S.F., for her companionship in writing this manuscript. Her embodiment of Franciscan spirituality has impressed upon me ways in which God is revealed in the midst of all creation, particularly in those who are sick and dying. I acknowledge with appreciation Msgr. Michael Groden, Pastor of St. Cecilia’s Parish, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts, Mark Donohoe, Parish administrator, and the Parishioners for their sustained friendship and support. For offering advice and critique of this manuscript, I am especially grateful to Rev. Dr. Jim Francis, the Religions and Discourse Series Editor, whose encouragement and guidance enabled me to proceed toward bringing the book to publication. Sincere thanks to Dr. Graham Speake Managing editor of Peter Lang AG – European Academic Publishers and his staff for their counsel, suggestions, and technical wisdom. I want to acknowledge especially David Edmonds and Sue Leigh, whose guidance and direction was much appreciated. Finally, I thank my parents, Michael Joe and Maureen, and my family for their gracious blessings upon me and my work. I am appreciative of the initial Christian formation I received from my family in Ireland. Such a solid immersion in the practices of the Christian faith inspired me in my missionary journey to Kenya and beyond. I have discovered that it is within my own family that I first experienced what it is to be a person-in-community.

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General Introduction

Personal Motivation My motivation for writing this book has been the life and faith the Turkana people of Kenya exhibited in the difficult struggle of their daily lives. As an Irish Catholic Christian missionary,1 I lived among the Turkana for ten years and received wisdom from their religious perspective regarding the universal meaning and purpose of human life. The interaction of their religious symbols and customs with my own learned expression of the Christian faith was transformative both for me and for the Turkana. As well as that, reciprocation with some Protestant missionaries and members of the Islamic faith tradition evangelising among the Turkana people had a significant influence upon my own faith.2 Consequent upon my lived experience among the Turkana people, I contend that faith grounded in specific cultures transcends 1

2

The way I view and interact with my own Irish and Christian heritage, and the particular symbolisation of the reign of God in Ireland, is informed and enriched by my missionary experience among the diverse culture and religious perspective of the Turkana. The prospect of European Christian missionaries being re-evangelised by the Turkana people through some of their symbols of culture and indigenous religious perspective, manifested in their dance, music, and rituals, is a significant component of the reinterpretation of the Gospel vision for a transformed European religious consciousness. It forms part of what I describe as a process of interculturation. The most important learning for me occurred within the context of managing Catholic schools. In the area in which I worked, various denominations of Protestants attended Catholic schools. One Catholic school had a Muslim headmaster and this ushered in an era of multireligious education in which each religious tradition represented in the school was respected and promoted. Students had opportunities to learn and be informed regarding different religious traditions. This was important for developing a sense of mutuality and cooperation among the religions and Christian denominations evangelising in the area.

the particularity of these historical cultural and religious perspectives. I have learned that faith in the God revealed by Jesus Christ, and authentic discipleship, are discovered through a mutual and empathic conversation that calls everyone to renewed faith and commitment. Every human culture and religious world view in different ways challenges its adherents to witness personally and communally for a better, life-giving world. From a Christian viewpoint, the question that this book attempts to explore is: Given the interaction of Christianity among diverse religious perspectives, how can Christian education in faith promote and sustain an interdependent religious identity for personal and social transformation toward God’s reign? Essentially, participants of goodwill in every cultural context are challenged to explore the negative as well as the positive sides of their own cultural and religious claims. All are summoned to reconstruct their lives, cultures, and religious world views to reflect a universal life-giving vision symbolised for Christians in God’s reign (Gospel) revealed through Jesus Christ.

Revisioning Christian Evangelisation The religious resources and spiritual values that people like the Turkana embrace are not taken seriously enough within the ambit of Christian evangelisation both Catholic and Protestant. The encounter with the Turkana inspired a re-thinking within me of the ways Christian evangelisation is accomplished in a diverse religious world. The harsh simplicity, extreme poverty, and often times tragic circumstances of life among the Turkana ethnic group have touched me profoundly. This experience has indelibly changed and transformed my outlook on the comforts we enjoy and expect in the Western world. The Turkana, like any diverse ethnic group of people, are worthy of and deserve to have their basic human needs fulfilled through the sharing of political, economic, and religious resources. Such sharing can be imagined in a respectful dialogical conversation that seriously engages the context of their socio-cultural, psycho-religious, and trad16

itional paradigms of existence.3 Thus, the sharing of Christian faith can be grounded in webs of meaning-making4 that the Turkana, or any ethnic group, understand and embrace. This is the essence of what I name as interculturation toward life shared with an ultimate reality: God. For Christians, this encounter is through the life, death, resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Vision Though this study may not address every issue of Christian mission in satisfactory detail, the book mainly explores Christian evangelisation as a process of theological and religious interculturation. This interculturality between the Christian story and the life-giving story contained in a diverse cultural world view with a religious outlook is the locus for promoting the universality of what Christians call Gospel (Good News – Truth). Particular reference is made, though not exclusively, toward an African perspective reflected in the indigenous religious features of the Turkana people. Christian evangelisation among these people is a multi-denominational endeavour. Roman Catholic and various Protestant missionary groups evangelise and minister among the people to help ameliorate the many hardships afflicting them. While there has been cooperation among missionaries, especially in the area of translation of the Bible, language learning, and health care, regrettably, there were some instances of proslytisation and competition for converts. This competition reflected the ongoing conflict between the Protestant renewal move3

4

See Benezet Bujo, African Theology in its Social Context, trans. John O’ Donohue (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992), 17–32. Bujo highlights ‘how African religion is the very heart of the traditional society’ (17). He further claims that ‘When we speak of the liberating dimension of African religion, we must start from the life-concepts of African clan society. Life is so central that it must be characterized as sacred’ (17). See Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays (New York: Basic Books, 1973), 5.

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ment of the sixteenth century (Reformation) and the defensive Catholic response (Counter-Reformation). Christian territorial influence within the Turkana region seemed necessary to sustain and increase the number of followers within respective denominational communities of faith. Perhaps this activity ensured the maintenance of specific religious and institutional identities as well as having political, ecoomic and religious influence in the area. However, as we will see later, this competition for numbers may have distracted missionaries, both Protestant and Catholic, from the primary task of seeking God’s reign wherever it may be found.

Worldwide Implications While the Turkana are a case study for these reflections, I believe that the vision reflected in the discourse, and the proposals made for a liberative evangelisation and interculturation, will offer insights for the worldwide ecumenical church.5 The vision that I propose not only concerns a Roman Catholic perspective for Christian evangelisation, but the perspective may also appeal to Protestant evangelical imaginations, to Eastern Christian traditions, and perhaps even to adherents of other religions, especially Islam. It is beyond the prescription of this study to discuss Islamic evangelisation. Suffice to say that Islam cannot be ignored in a broader context of religious interculturation as this faith perspective has a formidable presence and influence among the Turkana as well as among the people in the rest of Kenya, the African continent, and the wider world. The tragedy of September 11th, 2001 in the United States, and subsequent terror attacks in Bali, Indonesia, and Mombasa, Kenya as well as wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Middle-east, have highlighted the urgent need for international cooperation. In addition, these 5

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I am using the context of the Turkana people of Kenya to understand the process of interculturation globally. It is a context in which I have most experience of Christian evangelisation interculturally.

conflicts urge collaboration among the diverse religions around the world. From a Christian perspective, I suggest that genuine sharing of the gospel is an intercultural, interpersonal, conversational dynamic between Christian culture and another culture with a diverse religious and spiritual perspective. The seeds of the Reign of God,6 preached and embodied by the historical Jesus, who, for Christians, became the Christ of faith, exist in all cultures and religious perspectives. The evangelising task is to discover and observe manifestations of God’s vision or realm within every culture and religion. God’s political agenda, manifested within a culture through particular cultural material and religious symbols, has the capacity to transform all cultures and religions, including Christian culture itself. By Christian culture, I mean the cumulative structures of meaning that are handed down by Christians from one generation to the next. These constructions of meaning engage the temporal and spiritual characteristics of human life. They are embodied in symbols, i.e., persons, texts, sacraments, institutions, rituals, creeds, and so on. Such meaning constructions enable people to communicate, educate, and form significant perceptions of themselves as well as shape an understanding of an Ultimate reality such as God. For Christians the significance and purpose of life is understood in the context of the Reign of God proclaimed by Jesus. I claim that the transformation of religious and cultural identity occurs through the interrelational dynamics of an interreligious and intercultural encounter. For example, the impact of Catholic and Protestant Christian evangelisation among the Turkana nomads of NorthWest Kenya depicts a movement toward understanding authentic, 6

Throughout this book the term ‘Reign of God’ will be invoked in referring to God’s presence and action in the world. While this term is quite limited because it carries cultural connotations that link it with secular kingdoms and monarchies, it may serve better than the traditional ‘Kingdom of God’. In view of this project of religious and spiritual interculturation within the Turkana context, a more contextual and culturally related metaphor needs to be imagined to meaningfully understand the relationality of God among the Turkana. For example, the ‘Chiefdom of God’, the ‘Pastureland of God’, or the ‘Ekal (village) of God’ could bring the reality of God reign, as understood by Christians, into the Turkana’s everyday religious and spiritual consciousness.

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flexible, and inclusive religious identity. Such a movement has its roots deep in history when cultures and religious world views began to engage and interact with one another.7 The so-called ‘Age of Exploration’8 of the late fifteenth century instigated an intercultural process that brought Christianity into contact with diverse religious and cultural perspectives beyond Europe. A creative Jesuit missionary like Matteo Ricci among others, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, furnishes some insights into how missionaries engaged respectfully different cultures and religions. Though there are many examples of intercultural and interreligious encounters in Scripture,9 the narrative of the Samaritan woman at the well (Jn.4:1–42) and Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophoenican woman (Mk.7:24–30; Mt.15:21–28) are especially poignant and insightful. On the one hand, Jesus and the Samaritan woman dis7

8 9

20

See Everett M. Rogers and Thomas M. Steinfatt, Intercultural Communication (Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc., 1999), 1–38. According to the authors, ‘Thousands of years ago, large numbers of small cultural groups lived in relatively isolated seclusion over much of the earth’s surface. Intercultural communication occurred when groups encountered each other – in the form of trade, war, and conflicts, romantic and sexual relations, and other human forms of interactions’ (4). See also, in relation to intercultural communicative interaction, Stella Ting-Toomey, Communicating Across Cultures, (New York and London: The Guilford Press, 1999), 21–54. Ting-Toomey, in relation to what she terms as ‘an identity negotiation perspective’ suggests that ‘Mindful intercultural communication emphasises the appropriate, effective, and satisfactory negotiation of shared meanings and desired goals between persons of different cultures’ (54). For an overview of this historical period 1500–1600, see Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Mission (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1975), 141–176. In relation to how the Bible is a document of intercultural learning, see Silvia Schroer, ‘Transformations of Faith. Documents of Intercultural Learning in the Bible’, in Norbert Greinacher and Norbert Mett, eds., Christianity and Cultures: A Mutual Enrichment. Concilium No. 2. (London: SCM Press; Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1994), 3–13. Schroer observes that ‘Over centuries the identity of Israel took shape in a vigorous struggle with and demarcation from the culture and religion of Canaan’ (4). She also claims that ‘Sophia in the book of Wisdom is the symbol of an interreligious and intercultural dialogue in a multicultural society of the first century BCE’ (12).

cover for themselves, the ‘gift of life’ offered by God. They become partners in the missionary endeavour to bring a whole town to faith. On the other hand, there is the contrast of the Syrophoenican who confronts Jesus’ own apparent cultural and religious arrogance and exclusivity. She challenges him to cross his Jewish boundaries in order to facilitate a universal faith in God and to become inclusive in his offer of healing. The engagement of Jesus with the Samaritan and Syrophoenician women, the missionary work of Ricci, and the context of the Turkana nomads offer specific perceptions into Christian evangelisation within diverse cultures with different religious world views. The particular ways of knowing and being in the world that define who the participants are within these contexts and how they interact with Christian culture on their own terms under gird the process of discovering and observing aspects of the ‘unknown’ God.10 Such a dynamic has im-plications for the ministry of contemporary missionaries evangelising in cultures and religious perspectives other than their own.11 Seeing and appreciating the characteristics of an ultimate reality (God) that the missionary has not yet met or 10 11

See Pope Paul VI. Evangelisation in the Modern World (Evangelii Nuntiandi) # 63. Interculturation cannot happen without a specific context of engagement. Every context is unique and therefore the consequences or outcomes of the interculturation process will be different. For some insights into specific contexts, see F. Kabasele Lumbala, ‘The Process of Developing the Church in Zaire: The Reciprocal Opportunity for an Encounter’, in Christianity and Cultures: A Mutual Enrichment. Concilium No. 2, 57–64. See Mariam Francis, ‘Christianity in Pakistan’, in Christianity and Cultures: A Mutual Enrichment. Concilium No. 2, 65–73. Fernando Castillo gives an account of the relationship between evangelisation and culture in the Latin America context. See Castillo, ‘Christianity and Inculturation in Latin America’, in Christianity and Cultures: A Mutual Enrichment. Concilium No. 2, 75–87. See also, Kwame Bediako, Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1995), 17–86. Bediako sees ‘African academic theology as being challenged to be in close contact with the vernacular apprehension of the Christian faith and with its roots in the continuing realities of the traditional primal world-view’(86). This has implications for missionaries within various contextual African cultures with diverse indigenous religious world views.

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encountered can be exciting, chal-lenging, and offer life-giving opportunities for those with a capacity for embracing contrasting images of that ultimate reality.

Organisation of Content The book has seven related and interconnected chapters. Each chapter can be read independently should the reader wish to do so. A brief introduction and summary facilitates this process. Chapter one explores broadly Christian mission in history and outlines general developments in the method of Christian evangelisation. Did the church’s political and religious agenda ‘impose’ the Christian faith over the centuries? In the wake of the Enlightenment, Christian mission became enmeshed in networks of political, economic and religious activities to spread the advantages of technology, science, and education around the world. Such a predominantly Western culture encroached upon other cultural and religious ways of knowing God or a transcendent reality in the world. During the nineteenth and twentieth century, particularly in Africa, the imposition of Christian faith became both a Catholic and Protestant endeavour with some notable exceptions. Such political, economic, and religious imperial agendas mapped the course of Christian mission for many centuries. Not until the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) did a different missionary consciousness emerge which would not only transform Roman Catholic missionary activity but it would also elicit important thinking and practise among the Protestant Reformed tradition. Chapter two surveys in detail the methodology of theological and religious interculturation. Building upon the new awareness of diversity and plurality within the Roman Catholic church initiated through the reforms of Vatican II, this evangelising paradigm seeks a collaborative partnership with diverse cultures and religious perspectives. The universality of what Christians call the gospel, which itself cannot be disembodied from a culture, leads toward discerning the theological 22

and cultural process of inculturation as being more appropriately effected as ‘interculturation’. Thus, a proposal of interculturation is offered toward shaping a fresh paradigm for the way Christian evangelisation is structured and practised. Chapter three discusses two biblical foundations for contemporary interculturation. The narratives of the Samaritan woman at the well (Jn.4:1–42) and the Syrophoenician woman (Mk.7:24–30; Mt.15:21–28) are selected paradigmatic texts. These scriptural episodes suggest ways in which the universality of God’s Gospel, revealed through the historical Jesus, crosses diverse cultures and religious world views. Such a prospect for the gospel has consequences for not only Christian missionaries everywhere, but it also has implications for every culture and religion in an age of pluralism and diversity. Christian missionaries are confronted with expanding their own cultural and religious identities in the way the Syrophoenican challenged Jesus. The Samaritan woman at the well encourages missionaries to enable and facilitate diverse peoples to discover for themselves, on their own terms and through their own cultural material, the ‘gift of eternal life’ offered by the Christian message. These selected biblical texts provide models for an intercultural liberative theology to emerge which can offer to all the gift of personal and communal human freedom. Chapter four explores some historical precedents for interculturation. The endeavours of Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci in the sixteenth century illustrate some signs that lead to an understanding of interculturation within the history of Christian evangelisation in another culture and religious perspective. Ricci’s process was not a reciprocal religious interculturation as understood today. Instead, it was referred to as cultural accommodation. Though there was intercultural communication, the primary intention of Ricci was the conversion of the Chinese to Christianity. This view meant that Christian missionaries had to look at other cultures or religious perspectives to see what specific elements in them could suitably carry the essential principles of Christianity. The method, pioneered by Ricci in the sixteenth century, was radical for its time and came under official church scrutiny after Ricci died. While not forgetting the egregious limitations of Ricci’s method, my objective is to build upon his wis23

dom in discovering and observing the presence of the ‘unknown’ God12 within Chinese Confucianism. In my opinion, in spite of all its shortcomings, Ricci’s visionary method has important implications for the process of contemporary interculturation within any cultural context. Chapter five outlines the cultural and religious context of the Turkana of Kenya. This case-study offers a sketch of the people’s cultural and religious life-perspective. Such a life-perspective grounds the concept of interculturation in a particular history that has universal consequences for evangelisation everywhere. The universal implications suggest that in every particular culture there are shared meanings and aspirations that reflect worldwide cultural and religious interdependency.13 Later in the chapter, I examine how specific religious and theological transformation takes place inside the Turkana context as different religious and cultural symbols interact for human wellbeing. Chapter six deals with the pedagogy of interculturation. This takes account of the ways diverse religious and cultural perspectives interact with one another to make present the vision of God’s reign. An examination of the purpose of religious interculturation for social and religious transformation among the Turkana will lead to viewing the process of interculturation as an interreligious conversational praxis. A platform of six evolutionary moments for the conversational methodology will be presented. Finally, Base Christian/Religious Communities will be proposed as a means for providing a specific opportunity for reciprocal conversation for transformative interculturation. Some of these base communities constitute specifically Catholic 12

13

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This is similar to Paul’s intention in Athens. In Acts 17: 22–23. Paul says to the Council of the Areopagus ‘I noticed, as I strolled round admiring your sacred monuments, that you had an altar inscribed: To an Unknown God. Well, the God whom I proclaim is in fact the one whom you already worship without knowing it.’ In relation to the ability of the Christian gospel to be grasped universally, see Anna Wierzbicka, What did Jesus Mean? Explaining the Sermon on the Mount and the Parables in Simple and Universal Human Concepts (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2001), 11–13. From the horizon of linguistics, Wierzbicka outlines ways in which language can express universal human concepts.

Christian adherents while others are comprised of different religious and Christian denominational perspectives, such as Islam, African Inland Church, and Traditional religion. Chapter seven formulates some important conclusions and describes possible outcomes for the future of Christian evangelisation in diverse cultures with plural religious cosmologies and perspectives. Drawing upon the insights gained in the study of Jesus’ encounter with both the Samaritan and Syrophoenican women, the missionary strategy of Ricci, and the case study of the Turkana of Kenya, I consider how the process of an interdependent religious interculturation could encourage a sustained conversation for compassion and action for justice in the world. In addition, I predict that a mutual and reciprocal interculturation, grounded in human goodwill inspired by a greater transcendent ultimate power, can mean a better understanding for reconciliation and peace in a shared world. Finally, in a general conclusion, I bring together the main themes explored throughout the book and offer some critique and comment on possible objections to this perspective for Christian mission. I raise concerns in relation to religious and cultural relativism, religious and cultural absolutism, and religious and spiritual conversion. The issue of why Christian mission at all will be an important focusing question for many Christian evangelisers in an age of religious pluralism and diversity.

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Chapter One Christian Mission in History

Introduction What is this thing they call Christianity? Sheer colonialism! Cultural suppression! Sons of Africa, listen! Listen carefully! The white man came with a book he called Bible. His brother came after him with a staff of power. They conspired together how to chain the African. – Dominic Mwasaru1

Understanding the concept of religious and theological interculturation demands a peek into history. Firstly, to discern interculturation as a form of evangelisation entails highlighting broadly where the Christian faith was imposed in particular periods of history.2 Though there was widespread coercion to accept the Christian faith through the centuries, especially in Africa during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, there were exceptions. Some missionaries reflected and embodied a profound respect for cultural and religious diversity. Secondly, I then explore the new consciousness that emerged toward the middle of the twentieth century and which provided an opportunity for the church to reform its mission methodology. The theological and cultural awakening that Vatican II reflected, sparking new thinking 1 2

Dominic Mwasaru, ‘The Challenge of Africanizing the Church’, in Alyward Shorter, ed., African Christian Spirituality (London: Chapman, 1978), 101. See Peter Schineller, Handbook on Inculturation (New York and Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1990), 15. Schineller offers a concise explanation regarding imposition of faith. He states ‘In this view the church becomes like most colonial powers, believing that it has the truth embodied in a superior culture, and that those it encounters are inferior and without true values or a significant cultural heritage.’

regarding the interaction of faith and culture, is outlined. This Council created a space for the concept of inculturation to emerge, and in the late 1970s the notion was given a variety of articulations.

A. Imposing the Christian Faith Cultureless Faith The seeds of Christian faith were sown as Jesus of Nazareth revealed the Reign of God in his own Jewish culture and religious context. Jesus came to fulfil the Jewish law and not to abolish it by imposing his own religious world view. He died around the year 30 CE. During the apostolic age of the first century, Jesus’ disciples took the Christian message to the Hellenistic culture of the Roman Empire.3 These disciples went from town to town and shared their experiences of the resurrected Jesus. The church began to take shape and the Gospels were written in order to preserve the memory of Jesus. The different accounts of Jesus and his ministry indicate the cultural diversity that surrounds the telling of the Christian story and its world view. However, as the Christian message spread into different cultures, the interpretation and appropriation of God’s Gospel met with cultural and religious differences. The cultural question that emerged early in the history of the young church was: should non-Jews, in order to attain salvation, be circumcised to become disciples of Christ? The Council of Jerusalem convened in 49 CE clarified the contentious issue.4 At the Council, the apostle Paul opposed strongly any tendency to impose Judaic customs upon the Gentiles. Paul succeeded in convincing the Judaizers that faith and baptism in Jesus Christ, not cir3

4

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For a survey of this early period, see Marianne Sawicki, The Gospel in History: Portrait of a Teaching Church; The Origins of Christian Education (New York and Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1988), 69–109. See Schineller, Handbook on Inculturation, 29–30.

cumcision, were necessary for salvation. This proved to be a significant turning point in the early church as it began to see the important link between faith and culture. As the Christian faith spread throughout the Hellenistic world, it became influenced by Greek philosophy and borrowed Greek concepts, such as Logos,5 in order to acquire relevant meaning for this context. The early centuries were times of growth as well as intense persecution for the Christian communities, which were perceived as a threat to Roman imperial power. Not until Emperor Constantine legalised the Christian religion in 313 CE did a favourable climate emerge enabling Christianity to flourish. Legalising the religion meant that everyone could become Christian without risk of the persecution which the state had previously directed against Christians. The Christian faith became the imperial or state religion of the Roman Empire. It was prudent to become a Christian in order to take advantage of political and economic opportunities. Christianity established a socialising and unifying cultural influence upon the Roman empire that was carried as far west as the imperial province of England. The church in England saw itself as Roman in the sixth century.6 However, not every culture experienced such a romanised Christianity. An exception was reflected in the life and ministry of St. Patrick (387–461) who lived and shared Christian faith among the people of Ireland circa 432 CE. Ireland never experienced the socialising influence of the Roman Empire. Patrick, a missionary from romanised England, did not impose this cultural expression upon Ireland. Instead, he embraced Irish culture and shaped Christian faith around the contours of the existing

5

6

St. Justin Martyr in the second century (162 CE) discovered this concept in Greek philosophy to explain the ‘seeds of the Word’ already present in Greek culture. This insight would be eclipsed in subsequent centuries, with some exceptions, until the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) retrieved and used the concept in the document Ad Gentes to advance the vision of a ‘profound adaptation’. See Ad Gentes, # 11. See Sawicki, Gospel in History, 153.

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indigenous religious and cultural sensibilities of the people. Such an approach created a specific Celtic spirituality.7 Toward the end of the fifth century the Roman Empire was showing signs of disintegrating and giving way gradually to a feudal system of lords and vassals. In the wake of the eventual collapse of the Empire due to invading barbarian forces that ushered in the so-called Dark Ages,8 the church gradually assumed the duties of administration and filled a political vacuum taking upon itself supreme authority over all temporal and religious affairs. By the seventh century, consequent upon its legalisation in the fourth century, the church had amassed great power and wealth. The pope, because of the disintegration of civil authority instigated by the so-called ‘barbarian’ invasions and the increasing wealth and influence of the papacy, eventually managed Rome. He assisted in performing civil government duties for the Emperor, who had moved from Rome and lived in Constantinople.9 This era, known as the Middle Ages, would last until circa 1500 when Portuguese and Spanish Europeans began a new age of exploration that took them to new lands.10 The Middle Ages during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries witnessed the Inquisition sanctioned by the ecclesial authorities to deal with supposed heretics.11 Between 1095 and 7

8

9 10

11

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See Thomas Cahill, How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe (New York: Doubleday, 1995), 123–144. This was a time when education was on the decline. Different external cultures or civilisations were invading the Empire and eventually would replace Roman civilisation, giving birth to the feudal system. For more analysis of the complexity of the church’s involvement in civil government, see Sawicki, Gospel in History, 152–153. See David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1991), 214. Bosch uses the term Middle Ages ‘as referring to the period between 600 and 1500. Broadly speaking, one might say that the epoch commenced with the papacy of Gregory the Great and the emergence and early successes of Islam; it ended with the Muslim seizure of Constantinople (1453) and the Portuguese and Spanish voyages of discovery.’ The church experienced its power and wealth being undermined by some individuals or groups such as the Cathars or Albigenses who criticised its enormous wealth. Some people from the universities, and lay women known as

1272, Christian Crusades directed mostly against Muslims, for the purpose of recovering the Holy Lands and territories previously held by Christians, resulted in the deaths of many Muslims as well as Jews, Eastern Orthodox, and Byzantine Christians. In 1054 the Christian church had split, thereby creating two separate identities: ‘Roman Catholic’ and ‘Orthodox’.12 The historical memory of the Crusades and the Inquisition left a legacy of bitterness that is evident today. During these years of Christian evangelisation intimidation, intolerance, and invasion characterised the missionary paradigm out of which agents of the Christian faith operated. Nevertheless, there were some Christians during the early Middle Ages who resisted any form of religiously based cultural imposition, particularly within the Latin-rite Roman Catholic church. In the ninth century two Greek brothers, Cyril and Methodius, born in Thessalonika in 825 and 826 CE, paid no attention to the policy and process of Latinization going on in the Western church. They resisted the imposition of Aramaic, Greek, and Latin and created a Slavonic Christianity. Before the Schism of 1054, this was acceptable in the Christian church and reflected a continuity with seeking signs of the Word in diverse cultures.13 St. Francis of Assisi (1182–1226) provides another example, among others, of those who challenged the Roman Catholic church’s policy of imposing the Christian faith upon diverse cultures and different religions. Francis sowed the seeds of acceptance of difference and he embraced a life of poverty as the way to counteract the corruption of a wealthy and powerful church, particularly embodied in its leadership. Despite exceptions, the strategy of imposition was to continue. By the late fourteenth century, pogroms against Jews spread throughout Spain and forced Jews to convert to Christianity. The Spanish Inquisition began its work in 1480 to eliminate, as Henry Kamen posits,

12 13

the Beguines were sometimes suspects of the ecclesial Inquisition. The Inquisition was widely feared, as it meant severe torture and imprisonment. For an overview, see Sawicki, Gospel in History, 206–218. For the history of the missionary paradigm of the Eastern church, see Bosch, Transforming Mission, 190–213. See Aylward Shorter, Toward a Theology of Inculturation (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 1988), 143–145.

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‘a choice for the conversos, many of whom felt more at home among their Jewish brethren, and more tranquil in the synagogue than in the church’.14 Jews who fled to Portugal as refugees after their expulsion from Spain in 1492 were later subject to forced conversions. There was little acceptance of religious difference during these periods as the Roman church grew in power over temporal and spiritual affairs.15 By the sixteenth century, the church had grown very corrupt. This precipitated the Protestant Reformation in 1517 initiated by an Augustinian monk, Martin Luther (1483–1546). This movement contributed to the entrenchment of the Catholic church. The Council of Trent (1545–1563) manifested this defensive position and became the dominant counter-response of the Catholic church to the Protestant reform movement. The Council of Trent set in motion a process of standardisation and uniformity in the Roman Catholic church. Such a uniformity advanced a belief that faith was somehow cultureless, a conviction that was universally imposed. Faith was packaged within one cultural form. Such standardisation of Catholic Christian theology and practices was meant to safeguard its own ecclesial identity against the advancing Protestant reform movement. Thus, the church did not value cultural distinctions. According to Shorter, The Fathers of Trent rejected the Reformation, and, with it, the national and cultural distinctions of the reformers. Their priority was to safeguard Catholic unity, and they did this by imposing rigid liturgical and theological uniformity on the Western Church.16

The response by the Roman Catholic church to the Protestant Reformation once more gave rise to the separation of faith from culture. Missionaries such as Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) among others provide 14

15 16

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See Henry Kamen, ‘The Expulsion: Purpose and Consequence’, in Elie Kedourie, ed., Spain and the Jews: The Sephardi Experience 1492 and After (London: Thames and Hudson, 1992), 81. In 1302, the popes had, through a papal bull entitled Unam Sanctam, defined their supreme role in the world, and even kings were subject to the pope. Shorter, Toward a Theology of Inculturation, 153. ‘The tragedy of the Catholic Counter-Reformation was that this sweeping standardization of the Church coincided with the discovery of new continents and cultures’ (154).

exceptions to the standardising trend as will be seen in chapter four. Coinciding as the Reformation did with the European age of exploration of distant lands, a new Enlightenment era began to dawn for Europe that culminated in the birth of the Age of Reason in the seventeenth century.17 The Enlightenment, a product of European Christianity,18 impacted evangelisation around the world. Bosch states, There was a widespread and practically unchallengeable confidence in the ability of the Western Christians to offer a cure-all for the ills of the world and guarantee progress to all – whether through the spread of ‘knowledge’ or of ‘the Gospel’.19

Such a view was perceived as paternalistic and imposed European Christian culture upon religious cultures outside Europe, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In surveying broadly different historical periods a conclusion drawn is that a cultureless faith could be transmitted by transplanting it to different people living in various cultures. This was generally achieved by some form of force or coercion. The common bond between cultures was not the sharing of human desires but a universalising faith that was somehow superior to the cultures and religions that received it.20 Consequent upon this understanding was the development of a culturally constructed Western Christian faith imposed upon cultures rather than proposed to them. The African continent, particularly south of the Sahara desert, is one area of the world which experienced European political and economic colonisation as well as religious paternalism. This was evident particularly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but has roots as far back as the fifteenth century.21 17

18 19 20 21

For a survey of the Enlightenment era, which has it roots as far back as the fourteenth century when the medieval world was beginning to disintegrate, see Bosch, Transforming Mission, 262–345. Ibid., 344. Bosch states that the entire phenomenon of Enlightenment ‘was the child of Christianity’. Ibid., 343. Shorter, Toward a Theology of Inculturation, 183. See Elizabeth Isichei, A History of Christianity in Africa: From Antiquity to the Present (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,

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Colonialism in Africa Within sub-Saharan Africa as well as other parts of the world including the Americas, Asia, and Oceania, the categorisation of evangelisation as religious colonisation lingers. For Africans south of the Sahara, the memory of the slave trade that flourished during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries remains visible within their political, economic, social, and religious activities. The legacy of slavery, legitimised by the Bible to support ‘racialisation’ and the values of racial superiority among white Europeans, shaped the theological consciousness of many Africans. During the colonialisation of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, religious subjugation was shaped by the view that only one culture and religious perspective could carry and manifest authentic salvation for the world. Such a manifestation was reflected through a western-European culture influenced by Enlightenment ideals and objectives. For many Africans, this view was manifested in the way African indigenous religions were condemned as being ‘pagan’ and considered somewhat deficient in reflecting the fullness of salvation embodied within Christian practices.22 An example of the way Christianity imposed a foreign faith within sub-Saharan Africa was reflected in the policies of baptism, which discouraged Africans from using their own African names. This caused people to be dislocated from their cultural identity as persons with a distinct and valuable history. Western names were substituted that caused Christianity to be estranged from the African religious and

22

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1995), 63–67. Isichei posits that ‘As in West Africa, it was a tragedy that the Europeans brought not only Christianity but the slave trade. In time, the European presence was to destroy the Kongo kingdom, inaugurating a brutal era of warlordism’ (63–64). Such views are strengthened by nineteenth-century anthropologists such as Edward B. Tylor, who envisaged indigenous religions as primitive. He perceived spirit beings in these religions which gave rise to animism, forming a minimum definition of religion. He even used the word ‘savage’ to describe the adherents of these religious cultures. See Edward B. Tylor, ‘Animism’, in William Lessa and Evon Z. Vogt, eds., Reader in Comparative Religion: An Anthropological Approach (New York: Harper and Row, 1979), 9–19.

cultural consciousness. Missionary Eugene Hillman underlined the importance of African traditions when he wrote: ‘The traditional system of names points to and helps to establish the people’s powerful and pervasive sense of belonging to one another in the unity of family, clan, ethnicity and culture.’23 Such a monocultural and monoreligious view by some missionaries, who came to proclaim the Gospel, reflected arrogance, illustrated ineptitude, and resonated religious imperialism.24 The development of liberative contextual theologies is sometimes hampered by an overbearing Romanised and German European theological influence that insists on conformity toward a powerful cultural and religious centralisation. However, despite this, there is a significant growth in numbers of African theologians who are reinterpreting Christian faith according to the principles of their traditional religious experiences.25 For some, such as the Turkana of Kenya, pressure to conform is tied to the desperate need for funding for catechetical and church development projects. While such powerful observable symbols of colonisation from the past exist through education, theology, and church structure, among other forms, these realities continue to influence the transformation of culture and religious experience in sub-Saharan Africa. The remnants of various Euro23 24

25

Eugene Hillman, Toward an African Christianity: Inculturation Applied (New York and Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1993), 13. For an evaluation of the positive and negative aspects of the missionary endeavour, see Walbert Buhlmann, The Missions on Trial: Addis Ababa 1980: A Moral for the Future from the Archives of Today (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1979). Buhlmann creatively organises the evaluation in the form of a trial which ends by postponing indefinitely judgment on the missions. For an analysis of the birth of African theology, see Benezet Bujo, African Theology in its Social Context (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992), 58– 73. As well as the birth of African Christian theologies there are numerous African feminist theologies which enhance the role of women in the evangelising endeavour. For examples, see Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Daughters of Anowa: African Women and Patriarchy (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1995). See also Virginia Fabella and Mercy Amba Oduyoye, eds., With Passion and Compassion: Third World Women Doing Theology: Reflections from the Women’s Commission of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1988).

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pean cultures are reflected in many African expressions of the Christian faith, such as the way liturgy is celebrated and the institutional church is organised and structured. The perception by non-European cultures that agents of Christian evangelisation imposed their view of God, the world, and humanity upon them is entangled in past European oppressive cultural, political, and economic conquests. Europeans often acted out of a superior position in relation to culture, religion, and civilisation. Stretching as far back as the time of the Crusades up to, and including a significant portion of the twentieth century, the institutional church was enmeshed in networks of power and intrigue that did not always reflect Gospel vision. Colonising and subjugating activity within non-European cultures which held and practised non-European religions caught Christian missionaries in a snare that was difficult to escape. European colonising agents during the late fifteenth and subsequent centuries saw it as their right to conquer and ‘civilise’ cultures that were different from them.26 Trade, including slaves, and the preaching of the Gospel seemed to represent two sides of the same coin.27 Many Christian missionaries depended upon trading ships to bring them to distant lands. Traders depended upon missionaries to help the indigenous people assimilate European structures of meaning and customs. Thus, the Gospel arrived disguised in various western cultural accretions. In the end, Africans would receive the Gospel and lose their land in the mill of economic advancement and slavery. Traders 26

27

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Colonisation during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries within sub-Saharan Africa came in the wake of the Enlightenment movement in Europe. Part of the civilising process would be to enlighten African peoples to more scientific and rational ways of thinking and acting within a European culture. Therefore, there was a perception among Europeans that African traditional religions would not have a capacity for progress and development in this new world order of technological advancement. The King of Portugal in the late fifteenth century had responsibility for evangelising Africa given to him by the pope. This was known as padriado. This effectively gave the king full political and ecclesial authority. See Harvey J. Sindima, Drums of Redemption: An Introduction to African Christianity (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1994), 61–62. Royal patronage will be mentioned again in chapter four.

and missionaries from Europe considered themselves as heralds of authentic civilisation. The modernisation that they introduced through technology, science, and inventions, would ‘develop’ those considered outside the definition of acceptable civilised life.28 Christianising these cultures seemed synonymous with civilising them to reflect European standards of enlightenment. Africa experienced great changes to its own cultures and religious world views through the contact with European expansion and imperialism. Christian evangelisation processes and projects were enmeshed in this politics. At the end of the nineteenth century, Christian evangelisation in Africa received a boost as European colonial powers decided to carve up sub-Saharan Africa at a conference convened in Berlin, Germany in 1885.29 Conducted without any indigenous African representation, this particular conference legitimised for European settlers their desire to seize land and bring under colonial rule the African people. African populations experienced disruption of their cultures as arbitrary borders divided many ethnic societies. However, there were political and religious resistance to this indignity. Some African groups resisted nationally through organisations like the Mau Mau in Kenya or internationally through the Pan-Africanist Movement that led to the creation of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963.30 Other cultures resisted by borrowing elements from the Christian religion and integrating them with the local indigenous religion to form a new religion and sense of identity. Such a development indicates ways in which 28

29

30

European explorers began naming and translating their ‘discoveries’ into their languages ignoring the already local existing names and the meanings attached to them. The Turkana of Kenya, for example, had an indigenous name for every place, thing, lake, pond, river, tree, mountain, and hill, etc., which recalled for them their identity as a people. These names were steeped in centuries of oral tradition and history that were the substance for their myths, songs, dance, and music, etc. J.N. Kanyua Mugambi, From Liberation to Reconstruction: African Christian Theology After the Cold War (Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers Ltd, 1995), 38. Mugambi suggests that ‘The Berlin Conference in 1884–1885 institutionalized the “scramble” and “partition” of Africa, and Christian missionary expansion to Africa was subordinated to secular forces, despite provisions in the Berlin treaty to free missionary activity from secular control.’ See Mugambi, From Liberation to Reconstruction, 38–39.

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Africans were making Christianity their own. For example, Kimbanguism, founded by Simon Kimbangu (1889–1951) in Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo), was perceived as a threat to Catholics and other missionaries.31 Because of Kimbangu’s charism for healing and preaching, local hospitals did not see many patients and churches were almost empty. Christian evangelisation efforts benefited generally from the foreign political and economic activities within Africa. Missionaries received much needed material and financial resources that enabled hospitals, schools, and various economic and cultural development projects to proceed for the benefit of the people. These projects became the major carriers of the Christian world view as well as European culture. In as much as the projects imparted European cultural accretions, they reflected in concrete ways Gospel vision. Some missionaries in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries such as the ordained Presbyterian churchman Edward Wilmot Blyden (1832– 1912),32 Anglican bishop John William Colenso (1814–1883) and the Franciscan priest Placide Tempels (1906–1977),33 among others, opposed the exploitation of the African people and were in solidarity with their struggle to resist the ideology of subjugation. They tried to understand the African cultural and indigenous religious traditions. In the mid nineteenth century Bishop Colenso was exploring ways in which aspects of polygamy may be incorporated into the 31

32

33

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See Sindima, Drums of Redemption: An Introduction to African Christianity, 87–88. For an analysis of Kimbanguism, see Wyatt MacGaffey, ‘Kimbanguism and the Question of Syncretism in Zaire’, in Thomas D. Blakely, Walter E. A. van Beek, Dennis L. Thomson, eds., Religion in Africa (Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann, 1994), 241–256. Edward Wilmot Blyden came from the Caribbean and became a citizen of Liberia and president of the Liberia College. Blyden was among some in the 19th century who believed that education was essential to enabling an African to achieve a sense of dignity. See Kwame Bediako, Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1995), 6–16. For an overview of the contribution this missionary made to African theology particularly in the Belgian Congo which became known as Zaire and today has become the Democratic Republic of Congo, see Benezet Bujo, African Theology in its Social Context (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992), 56–58.

Christian vision of marriage among the Zulus of South Africa. Not only did he receive criticism for his liberal views on polygamy, but he also fuelled controversy among his Anglican colleagues regarding some of his biblical interpretations that challenged the position of taking the biblical writings literally. Eventually Colenso endured excommunication for injecting fresh and original insights into biblical texts. His commentary on Romans particularly drew severe criticism.34 Despite opposition by ‘status quo’ missionaries to the liberating efforts of people like Colenso, courageous and visionary missionaries developed strategies that eventually unravelled the chains of colonial and even religious oppression. These prophets of their day instilled within the indigenous populations of Africa and elsewhere a desire for freedom which led to their cultural and religious independence. These visionaries sculptured a fresh paradigm for mission out of a subjugating colonial system so that diverse cultures and their unique religious experience had an honoured place in history. Jean-Marc Elà observes, ‘Traders and planters were often harsh in their attitude toward the missions, which they accused of making bad subjects for the colonial power by encouraging the natives to resist a regime of blind submission.’35 Despite some good intentions it was difficult for many missionaries to separate themselves from their own cultural and religious biases. European cultural and religious mores were shaped by economic advances throughout the world. Christian missionaries, who relied on the structural and institutional support of this seemingly ‘superior’ culture, were shaped with them. Moreover, as Elà observes, ‘colonial powers undertook to protect religious enterprises and endeavours’36 as these were seen by European colonial interests as being

34 35

36

J. Guy, The Heretic: A Study of the Life of John William Colenso 1814–1883 (Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press, 1983). Jean-Marc Elà, African Cry (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1986), 21. See J.N. Kanyua Mugambi, From Liberation to Reconstruction: African Christian Theology After the Cold War (Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers Ltd, 1995), 38. Elà, African Cry, 21. See also Benezet Bujo, African Theology in its Social Context (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992), 37–49. Bujo states that

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crucial to ensuring their continued dominance over the indigenous populations. Even though Christian missionary activity was accused of hostility toward African traditions, the efforts of missionaries contributed significantly to the promotion of vernacular languages. Some missionaries learned local African languages which enabled translation of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures into vernacular languages. This translation of the Scriptures into vernacular languages created an important opportunity for African people to claim their various ethnic identities and particular histories. The language in which those identities were framed could be protected and developed. Lamin Sanneh recognised that missionaries created a consciousness within non-western peoples of their history through using their language in the process of evangelisation. The interaction with missionaries provided nonwestern people with critical skills to critique and resist western ideologies. He contends, It is one of the interesting ironies of the Western missionary enterprise that the evangelical motive actually helped to shield indigenous populations from the unmitigated assault of the West and that, through the elevation of the vernacular in translation, missions furnished the critical language for evaluating the West in its secular and religious impact.37

It is beyond the scope of this book to address sufficiently the complexity of two thousand years of Christianity in Africa. Suffice it to say that the accusation of spiritual and religious colonisation which imposed Christian faith upon sub-Saharan African cultures during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries still permeates contemporary consciousness.38 The religious and social sensibilities of the people con-

37

38

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‘the colonial endeavour had three arms: government, mission, commerce, and all had to work together’ (44). Lamin Sanneh, Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1989), 203; Encountering the West: Christianity and the Global Cultural Process (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1993), 74. For a comprehensive review of African history, see Isichei, A History of Christianity in Africa: From Antiquity to the Present. Isichei treats the movement of Islam in Africa among other religious influences that impact African culture

tinue to be informed and formed by the uncomfortable memories of the rejection of their indigenous religious traditions. Some of these painful memories can be traced to colonial practices as far back as the fifteenth century when Portugal invaded the kingdom of Kongo (Angola) around 1483. However, inasmuch as this assertion has some foundation, it does not mean that good influences were always submerged through European political, social, economic, technological, and religious interaction among Africans. The benefits and the disadvantages can be seen within the contextual corpus of the Turkana missionary endeavour. Mission Among the Turkana of Kenya Kenya, a former colony of Great Britain, where I lived as a missionary, had its own particular experience of colonisation that began around 1895 and ended with independence in 1963.39 The memory of these years continues to impact its political, economic, social, and religious development as a postcolonial nation. Colonisation reverberates deep within the cultural psyche of the people of Africa. Though the experience of colonisation was a different experience for various African ethnic groups, contemporary contextualised Christian evangelisation is challenged to take into account these different experi-

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and its linguistic system. See John Baur, 2000 Years of Christianity in Africa: An African Church History, revised ed. (Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa, 1998). See also Harvey J. Sindima, Drums of Redemption: An Introduction to African Christianity. See J.N. Kanyua Mugambi, From Liberation to Reconstruction, 38. Historian John Baur claims that ‘Kenya had been the first East African country to see missionaries at its coast, but it was the last one to receive some in its interior.’ See John Baur, 2000 Years of Christianity, 254. Baur further observes ‘For in 1885, after the erection of the Uganda Protectorate, the remaining area between Uganda and the coast was, without further ado, also taken under Queen Victoria’s protective wings. It was called British East Africa Protectorate until it became the Kenya Colony in 1919’ (254). There was no significant trade route across Kenya until the Uganda railway was built. It reached Nairobi in 1899. This railway provided a way for missionaries to establish mission churches at great speed.

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ences of subjugation. Such a challenge enables developing ways to reconcile with the destructive encounters of the past. This is crucial for African people as well as enabling the institutional church to recognise its part in imposing a particular religious faith without mutual and reciprocal consultation. The process of colonisation impacted on various independent ethnic groups in different ways depending upon their strategic location, economic viability, and potential resources within an area. For the Turkana of Kenya their experience of colonisation resulted from pressing colonial needs elsewhere in Kenya and Uganda. The Turkana, found themselves between borders that did not exist before. This impacted on their nomadic lifestyle. Such a reality would bring profound changes for them as a nomadic people in constant search of pastures for their animals. Before borders were imposed by foreign colonial governments, the Turkana could easily move into grazing areas in Uganda, Sudan, and Ethiopia. Now, their movements began to be strictly monitored by local border patrols. The Turkana experienced their brush with colonial structures in a significantly different way from other ethnic groups. In fact, the Turkana experienced a type of colonisation known as ‘pacification’ that began around 1900 and came to an end in 1918. This brutal scattering of the people and the confiscation of their animals cultivated an enduring inferiority complex within the people’s consciousness.40 Over many years, such internalising of this type of subjugation expresses itself within the development of their culture and religious practices. Such internalisation is exhibited through lingering suspicions of external cultural and religious influences manifested in education, health practices, politics, economic enterprises, and so on. Prior to this horrific time, the Turkana people lived, moved and raided for animals freely untouched by any outside interference. Recurrent droughts, disease among the animals, and especially pressure from the Abyssinians to the north weakened and forced them to seek help from the Colonial forces who were stationed in the southern 40

42

For a comprehensive analysis of this pacification, see John Lamphear, The Scattering Time: Turkana Responses to Colonial Rule (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992).

region of Turkana. The people wanted protection from the invaders in the north but the British forces used this opportunity to pacify and subjugate the Turkana as well as protecting British interests in other parts of Kenya. What worried the British most were their interests in Uganda, at the time known as the ‘Pearl of Africa’ and a protectorate. Problems in Turkana, located on the border, could have insurmountable consequences for the excavation of unlimited mineral and agricultural resources. The Turkana region had no interest for the British commercially except that it was strategic for security purposes. Turkana was a battleground turned into a security zone with no outsider allowed to enter without a special permit. This subjected the proud, warrior like Turkana to the foreigner and to famine.41 In 1961 Catholic Christian evangelisation began for the Turkana as Kenya was moving toward political independence. At the same time various Protestant denominations began to arrive and assist with famine relief, the building of schools, and the establishment of small medical facilities. The African Inland church (AIC),42 formerly known as AIM (African Inland Mission), focused its energy and expertise in the Southern part of Turkana District at Lokori and later opened a mission in the eastern part of the District at Kalokol. However, Catholic evangelisation became a stronger presence in the area. This was reflected in the many famine relief projects, schools, churches, hospitals and dispensaries that it funded and staffed. Due to Turkana being cut off from the outside world prior to independence, little Christian 41

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For an overview of the conflict and famine within Turkana District, see Dylan Hendrickson, Jeremy Armon and Robin Mearns, Conflict and Vulnerability to Famine: Livestock Raiding in Turkana, Kenya (London: International Institute for Environment and Development, Drylands Programme, 1998), 2–14. See also J.T. McCabe, ‘Success and Failure: The Breakdown of Traditional Drought Coping Institutions Among the Pastoral Turkana of Kenya’ Journal of African and Asian Studies 25 34(1990), 146–160. For a helpful analysis of this Christian denomination and other Christian churches in Turkana, see Raymond Howard Davis, ‘Church Growth and Culture Change in Turkana: A Study of the Africa Inland Church Among Kenya’s Turkana People’ (Unpublished Master’s Dissertation, presented to Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California, 1978), 58–91. See also David B. Barrett, et al., eds., Kenya Churches Handbook (Kisumu, Kenya: Evangel Publishing House, 1973).

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evangelisation was in evidence. Some Catholic exploratory initiatives, a number of years before the end of British rule, did not establish any permanent mission centres. There is a record that some Protestant endeavours as early as 1934 tried to gain influence among the Turkana. It is reported that The Bible Churchmen’s Missionary Society (BCMS)43 had a station at Lodwar. But these exploratory efforts did not survive. The isolation of the Turkana region ended with a devastating famine in 1961 which caused many relief agencies to respond. Catholic Christian missionaries began to arrive in December of that year in response to the consequences of the famine.44 Evangelisation was heavily influenced by the demands the famine made on its strategy and future direction.45 Even though Christian evangelisation (Protestant and Catholic) came to Turkana in the wake of departing colonial institutions, it still bore the hallmarks of previous adaptation and assimilation strategies in progress elsewhere in Kenya. Missions or parishes were formed out of centres already set up to distribute food and medicine. Schools, based on the colonial system, began to be built in order to educate the Turkana out of poverty and offer the people an alternative to a precarious nomadic existence. Translation of the Scriptures into the local language became a dominant component of the continual evangelisation process. The various external developments both economically and religiously would begin to undermine indigenous cultural and religious structures.

43 44

45

44

See Barrett, et al., Kenya Churches Handbook, 216. See also, Raymond Howard Davis, ‘Church Growth and Culture Change in Turkana,’ 58. See James Good, Mission to the Turkana (Middleton, Cork, Ireland: Litho Press Co., 1988), 13. See also Vigdis Broch-Due, ‘Remembered Cattle, Forgotten People: The Morality of Exchange and the Exclusion of the Turkana Poor’, in David M. Anderson and Vigdis Broch-Due, eds., The Poor Are Not Us: Poverty and Pastoralism in Eastern Africa (Nairobi: East African Educational Publishing, 1999). The direct causes of famine in Turkana can be traced to the time of pacification as well insufficient rainfall a phenomenon that persists today. For an overview of the pacification of Turkana, see John Lamphear, The Scattering Time: Turkana Responses to Colonial Rule (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992). See James Good, Mission to the Turkana, 9–19.

The process of evangelisation was a European theological experience, in general, and an Irish nuanced engagement in particular,46 that formed the emergence of a new human faith experience. A conflict between a long history of nomadic ways of knowing and existing within the land of Turkana and the new external ways of knowing the world, brought by Christianity, would now emerge. Adapting the Gospel message within this region might have seemed clear at first when the missionaries were reminded of Jesus feeding the multitudes (Mt.14:13–21). However, a mere adaptation of the Gospel vision would not connect to the deeper Turkana consciousness, manifested through their indigenous religious traditions. Colonialism in its various forms and Christianity were unfortunately perceived as synonymous. As a consequence, an indelible psychological and emotional wound permeates contemporary African culture generally. Though the political and economic subjugation was significant, the religious and cultural attack had more far-reaching consequences. Ethnic peoples’ religious traditions and customs were attacked and considered primitive by missionaries. Such a consideration had devastating emotional and spiritual impact upon the integral identity of an individual and community. Jean Marc Elà notes ‘The task of the missions was to attack the sociocultural obstacles of the African world, showing the young the irrationality of their ancestral practices, the fatuity of the beliefs to which their parents were so attached.’47 The introduction of Christianity, made possible by and through colonialism, was generally perceived as an imposition and an accessory to imperialism rather than an enrichment of local existing African traditions. Hillman claims that ‘the model of missionary and pastoral ministry developed during the colonial period under the influence of a colossal western cultural arrogance’48 still permeates deeply the Afri46

47 48

The evangelisation of this region was assigned to the responsibility of the St. Patrick’s Missionary Society, Ireland. See Thomas Kiggins, Maynooth Mission to Africa: The Story of St. Patrick’s, Kiltegan (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1991), 232–235. Ela, African Cry, 19. Hillman, Toward an African Christianity, 11.

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can consciousness.49 However, Hillman points to the great generosity of many contemporary missionaries in making efforts to soften the ‘paternalism of this model.’50 Nevertheless, there is, as he indicates, in many parts of contemporary Africa ‘the importation of strictly western suppositions, systems, institutions, structures, symbols, myths, rules, concepts, practices, customs and costumes.’51 In time, the new consciousness that the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) evoked within Christianity will be embodied more appropriately in the cultures of Africa.52

B. A New Consciousness Emerges Vatican II – A Watershed Moment for Mission For at least five centuries prior to the Second Vatican Council, mission methodology basically centred around cultural and religious assimilation. Diverse cultures with an existing and valid religious view of the world had to assimilate themselves into European culture. On the part of some European civilisations a basic ignorance of diverse cultures and religions forced upon populations outside Europe a consciousness that their own means for salvation was perhaps intrins49

50 51 52

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See the thinking of Wole Soyinka, ed., Poems of Black Africa. London: Heinemann 1975. Ngugi wa Thiongo, A Grain of Wheat (London: Heinemann, 1967). See also Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Devil on the Cross (London: Heinemann, 1982). Hillman, Toward an African Christianity, 11. Ibid., 11. Though I’ve been dealing specifically with Catholic Christian influence upon African cultures and indigenous religions, I have not analysed the impact of Islam. It is beyond the parameters of this book to do a sufficient analysis. However, Islam is a third force within Africa which is totalising as a cultural and linguistic system. The universalising religious power of Islam impacted and continues to impact African traditional religions. In relation to the contrasts of Islam and Christianity in the translatability of their Scriptures in reference to Africa, see Sanneh, Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture, 211–235.

ically inadequate or inferior. Such an attitude obliged many to relinquish their inherited civilisations and embrace the structures and institutions of a European process of religious and theological understanding of the world. Eventually, terms like ‘indigenisation’ and ‘accommodation’ developed.53 A policy of cultural and religious accommodation was promulgated by people like Matteo Ricci as will be seen in a later chapter. Some Protestant missionary societies were also aware of the need for local churches outside Europe to have some independence and the policy of indigenisation became normative for them. Despite these efforts toward recognising the difference between these African churches and European churches, it often meant that local churches outside European cultures were still heavily dependent upon European funding, thus perpetuating further cultural assimilation as well as an intellectual, emotional and spiritual dependency. For Roman Catholics, Vatican II in the mid twentieth century attempted to allay fears that the Christian faith should not be imposed upon cultures and their specific religious traditions. It is much more difficult to trace a particular standard watershed moment in the history of Protestant missions.54 Many Protestant denominations enjoy unique historical origins and have their own specific developments in relation to mission which are beyond the scope of this study to survey adequately. Suffice to say that Protestant missionary societies, who came to influence the mission agenda in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries especially in sub-Saharan Africa, did not ignore the challenge to embrace 53

54

For an historical account of the development of these concepts, see David J. Bosch Transformation of Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1991), 294–295. For details of Protestant mission in history since 1960, see Jean Comby, How to Understand the History of Christian Mission (London, England: SCM Press Ltd, 1996), 168–170. In relation to questions arising out of the way Catholics deal with inculturation, Comby observes that ‘the same questions can be found in the Protestant world, but it is more difficult, especially from a Catholic perspective, to trace any common lines of direction because of the number of denominations’(168–169). Though many Protestant churches belong to the World Council of Churches founded in 1961, some churches have a specific ‘evangelical’ track which distinguishes them.

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religious pluralism. Such an embracement would lead to the creation of a new cultural and religious consciousness for Gospel vision. Many so-called independent Protestant churches that sprang up across the African continent in the second half of the twentieth century reflect a dynamic cultural, political, and religious revival. These ‘hybrid’ churches, which drew their strength from borrowing elements from both European Christianity and African traditional religions, provided a powerful resource for breaking the hegemony of a predominantly European cultural and religious expression of faith. These churches are very active today in continuing a process of religious and theological interculturation that is meaningful and life-giving for them. Especially in sub-Saharan Africa, these diverse communities of faith form a significant part of a fresh consciousness toward a varied African appropriation of both Christian faith and African traditional religions. These developments among others affected Christian mission. Vatican II attempted to do deal with many aspects of life in the Roman Catholic church. But perhaps the most significant aspect was its capacity to reconcile and heal the relationship between Catholics and Protestants as well as create a new climate of openness toward other cultures and religions. The Council suggested that the faith should be proposed for cultures to discover for themselves life in the Gospel. An imposed uniformity on truth began to give way to an historical and cultural diversity of truth. That is to say, no culture can take a ‘superior’ stance and enforce its world view on others. For its part, the church claimed that it is not tied exclusively to any specific culture. Because of its universal nature, the church can enter into communion with ‘different forms of culture, thereby enriching both itself and the cultures themselves’.55 This suggests that the visible church can somehow be separated from a culture. In reality, particularly in contemporary Africa, the evidence of a predominantly European culture and religious structure prevails in the visible church. This is clearly evidenced in the designs of the church buildings, the celebration of lit55

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See Gaudium et Spes # 58, in Austin Flannery, ed., Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents (Northport, New York: Costello Publishing Company, revised ed. 1992), 962.

urgy, the organisation of leadership structures, and the formation and education of indigenous ordained and non-ordained Christian leaders. The meaning of Christian evangelisation, grounded in a Vatican II consciousness, could further enhance for sub-Saharan African cultures a life-giving appropriation of the Gospel vision. The Second Vatican Council illustrated a major shift of attitude within the church toward non-European cultures. The future sharing of Christian faith would eventually have to be a mutual cultural and religious partnership. This indicated a move away from any form of imposing faith upon cultures as well as a shift from adapting Christian faith to suitable elements found within different cultures and religious traditions. Though the Council clung to the language of adaptation,56 it nevertheless recognised the need for a new interpretation of its meaning. Much of this new consciousness which Vatican II exhibited came in the wake of great change around the world.57 Provoked by two world wars in the twentieth century that stimulated subsequent new developments in technology, human sciences, travel, communication, government, and global economics, the church was challenged to respond. In addition, during the early sixties, a new wave of independence from colonialism was beginning to be felt on the African continent.58 New countries were beginning to emerge and experience a post-colonial independence that would inevitably affect the consciousness of the church as it continued its evangelising presence during and after independence in Africa. The reality of new countries emerging with distinct cultures and political systems created a realisation within the world that European culture was losing its dominant civilising and christianising role.

56 57

58

Ad Gentes # 22 (Vatican Council II), 839. For an overview of these changes, see Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Mission (London, England: Penguin Books, 1986), 414–472. See also David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission, 363–367. See Isichei, A History of Christianity in Africa: From Antiquity to the Present, 323–352. See also Claude Wauthier, The Literature and Thought of Modern Africa (London: Pall Mall Press, 1966), 180–256.

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Cultural Pluralism Though the Second Vatican Council was the clear indicator of recognition by the church of diverse cultures,59 there was a struggle prior to the Council in acknowledging that reality. Monocultural and monoreligious perspectives persisted reflected in policies of adaptation and, in many cases, the method of assimilation prevailed.60 Adaptation was the favoured methodology in spreading the Gospel. Missionaries sought appropriate elements in a culture or an indigenous religious perspective and Christianised them according to European religious and cultural sensibilities. The church was slow in recognising the plurality of cultures. Shorter wrote, There was a reluctance to admit the plurality, let alone the equality, of cultures. Hence the ambiguity in official statements. Normally there was no question of evangelising human cultures themselves. The one Catholic Faith had to be extrinsically adapted in order to render it acceptable to different groups of people. To employ a commercial metaphor, the same product was to be ‘packaged’ in various ways, in order to sell it successfully in different countries.61

59

60

61

50

From around the middle of the twentieth century, the church sees that there are different cultures as opposed to a monocultural view of the world. See Shorter, Toward a Theology of Inculturation, 18. According to Shorter, ‘For nearly sixteen centuries, from late Roman times until our own, a monocultural view of the world held sway among bishops, theologians and thinkers of the Catholic Church.’ By cultural diversity I am thinking of a particular cultural context that not only acknowledges differences but that there is a common vision or a dominant value ethos that holds the diversity in unity. By cultural pluralism I am referring to the relative value of every culture. Assimilation was the general methodology used by missionaries for centuries. It viewed that converts to Christianity had to be assimilated into European culture and Christian religious ways of knowing. Adaptation or accommodation was the new vision of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries introduced by Jesuit missionaries in China and India. This method prevailed for a while until it was accused of promoting syncretism by those who preferred the assimilation method. During the nineteenth century and up to the Second Vatican Council, the adaptation model was the usual way of Christian evangelisation. See Baur, 2000 Years of Christianity in Africa: An African Church History, 435. Shorter, Toward a Theology of Inculturation, 183.

The Second Vatican Council, particularly the conciliar document Gaudium et Spes began to examine culture and see the possibility that all human beings can achieve humanisation through a life-giving culture. It is one of the properties of the human person that he (she) can achieve true and full humanity only by means of culture, that is, through the cultivation of the goods and values of nature. Whenever, therefore, there is a question of human life, nature and culture are intimately linked together.62

This statement recognised the fundamental role that culture plays for all people to affirm individual and communal identity and to attain authentic humanisation. Through the continuous developing and transforming of culture and diverse religious world views, a life-giving meaning-making environment for all can be evoked and a universal harmony of relationships can be envisaged. Conscious that culture or cultures should be respected, the Council admonishes that culture should always promote the dignity of every human being. Culture, since it flows from man and woman’s rational and social nature, has continual need of rightful freedom of development and a legitimate possibility of autonomy according to its own principles. Quite rightly it demands respect and enjoys a certain inviolability, provided, of course, that the rights of the individual and the community, both particular and universal, are safeguarded within the limits of the common good.63

Mass cultural changes taking place in the world through industrialisation and urbanisation, inter alia, created, according to Gaudium et Spes, ‘new mass-cultures which give birth to new patterns of thinking and acting, and of the use of leisure’.64 As a result, a fresh awareness evolved within the church which perceived that these social and economic tendencies indicated a ‘universal form of culture’ gradually taking shape. Firstly, such a universal cultural form would nurture the unity of all human beings. Secondly, if a universal form of culture was envisioned for the world, there was the task to ensure that the ‘char62 63 64

Gaudium et Spes # 53 (Vatican Council II), 958. Ibid., # 59, 963. Ibid., # 54, 959.

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acteristics of each culture be preserved.’65 While the Vatican Council high-lighted the importance of culture for the integral development of all human beings, it underlined that every person has a right to a culture and to participate in its growth and advancement.66 Acknowledging the plurality of cultures brought a fresh realisation to those engaged in the task of Christian evangelisation. Though faith was considered, in some mystical way, separate from culture, it could only be known when embodied in a specific cultural and religious expression. The movement toward recognising cultural diversity initiated a shift from insisting that all cultures should be subverted by a dominant culture similar to the ideology enshrined in colonisation. Discerning that Gospel and culture are intimately related even if there is a distinction was at the core of Gaudium et Spes which declared, There are many links between the message of salvation and culture. In his selfrevelation to his people culminating in the fullness of manifestation in his incarnate Son, God spoke according to the culture proper to each age. Similarly the Church has existed through the centuries in varying circumstances and has utilised the resources of different cultures in its preaching to spread and explain the message of Christ, to examine and understand it more deeply, and to express it more perfectly in the liturgy and in various aspects of the life of the faithful.67

Religious Pluralism Encompassed in the church’s awareness of cultural diversity was a concurrent recognition of religious plurality. This view, while reappraising culture or cultures, elicited a different attitude toward the purpose of other religions. The church began to endorse other religious traditions’ capacity to carry elements of truth. By acknowledging this in other religions, the church intimated that there could not be an imposition of the Christian faith upon diverse religious perspectives. The Vatican II document on the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate) claimed that ‘the 65 66 67

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Ibid., # 64, 959. Ibid., # 60, 964. Ibid., # 58, 962.

Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions.’68 The church acknowledged that other religions differ in many aspects with the Catholic church’s teaching on what is true, but these religions ‘often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men (women).’69 Clearly and unequivocally, the Second Vatican Council by these statements recognised that different cultures as well as their plural religious perspectives were important aspects for humanisation toward the Reign of God. The Council exhorted Christian believers to witness ‘to their own faith and way of life’ while, at the same time, they should ‘acknowledge, preserve and encourage the spiritual and moral truths found among non-Christians.’70 The possibility that other religions contained and manifested truth to the world was a major theological shift. The social life and culture in which non-Christians practised their different religious perspectives were acknowledged as authentic vessels for embodying lifegiving truth that Christians were strongly encouraged to recognise and promote.71 Consequently, there was, on the part of the Roman Catholic church, an awareness of God’s love present and operative in different cultures and religions. Consequent upon this understanding, there is a significant move in recognising the role other religious perspectives can play in the salvation – humanisation of the world. Moreover, not only does this mean collaboration with God’s universal saving intent, but it also means that the universality of God’s selfdisclosure, that is, revelation, can be discovered in religions outside Christianity. These unfolding insights provide a backdrop for the concept of inculturation to emerge.

68 69 70 71

Nostra Aetate # 2 (Vatican Council II), 739. Ibid., # 2, 739. I have inserted the word ‘women’ to be more inclusive of female gender. Ibid., # 2, 739. Ibid., # 2, 739.

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Inculturation Though the Reformed Protestant tradition spoke of indigenisation and Catholics had already adopted the term accommodation, the theological concept of inculturation followed the Second Vatican Council’s ground breaking insights into the essence of culture for integral human development. New understandings emerged about the way in which the Christian gospel vision could become an intrinsic transformative component of cultures with diverse religious perspectives. The Second Vatican Council called for ‘a profound adaptation’72 of the Gospel in culture. Consequent upon this understanding of the Council, the theological concept of inculturation was constructed to explain the interrelational dynamic between Gospel and culture.73 Although the word inculturation is not mentioned in any Vatican II documents, the documents do call for the incarnation of the Gospel,74 similar to God becoming incarnated through Jesus Christ within a particular culture and historical moment.75 The term incarnation became a metaphor for explaining how the Gospel is ‘made flesh’ in various cultures. This was an important development in understanding how evangelisation was grounded and expressed in every local church and at the same time manifested a universality for the global church. Pope Paul VI in 1975 was aware of the complexity and the imperative of sharing Gospel vision within the plurality and diversity of cultures and multicultural contexts. He writes, Evangelisation loses much of its force and effectiveness if it does not take into consideration the actual people to whom it is addressed, if it does not use their

72 73

74 75

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Ibid., # 22, 839. For further analysis of the development of the concept inculturation, see Thomas G. Grenham, ‘Interculturation: Exploring changing Religious, Cultural, and Faith Identities in an African Context’. Pacifica: Australian Theological Studies 14 2(2001), 191–206. Ad Gentes # 10 (Vatican Council II), 824. See Redemptoris Missio, Vatican, 1990, # 52. Pope John Paul II sees that through a process of inculturation the ‘Church makes the Gospel incarnate in different cultures’.

language, their signs and symbols, if it does not answer the questions they ask, and if it does not have an impact on their concrete life.76

Paul VI envisioned that the Gospel be ‘transposed’ in such a way that fidelity to the integrity of the message always be maintained particularly, as he suggests, ‘in the field of liturgical expression, and in the areas of catechesis, theological formulation, secondary ecclesial structures, and ministries.’77 Though Paul VI suggested the need for the Gospel to be incarnated into local cultures, he nevertheless did not let go of the idea for ‘discovery and adaptation’78 in relation to the Gospel interacting with many cultures. The liturgical renewal that subsequently developed out of the Second Vatican Council, and Paul VI’s suggestions in Evangelii Nuntiandi, gave rise to liturgical transformations. The approval of the Zairean ‘Rite’ in 1988 reinforced the church’s commitment to follow through on encouraging distinct and unique local churches.79 Other rites for India, the Philippines and Latin America were being considered as well.80 These were signs that the church was recognising in a concrete way the plurality of cultures and their need to express their faith in unique and distinct manifestations. All of this was driven by the use of vernacular languages that

76

77 78 79

80

Pope Paul VI, Evangelisation in the Modern World, # 63 (London: The Catholic Truth Society, 1975), 86. Paul VI saw that the universal church was in practise tied to individual churches that have their unique ways of expressing the witnessing to the vision of the gospel. He contends, ‘Nevertheless this universal Church is in practice incarnate in the individual Churches made up of such or such an actual part of mankind, speaking such and such a language, heirs of a cultural patrimony, of a vision of the world, of an historical past, of a particular human substratum’ (84). Ibid., # 63. Ibid., # 40. See Francois Kabasele Lumbala Celebrating Jesus Christ in Africa: Liturgy and Inculturation (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1998), xv. Lumbala outlines possibilities for further developments for what I call the interculturality of the sacraments. See esp. 9–91. Lumbala writes, ‘These rites are not fully approved as yet by Roman law regulating divine worship, nor are they universally practiced throughout Africa’ (9). See Shorter, Toward a Theology of Inculturation, 194.

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expressed not just semantic and literary meaning but were expressive of the anthropological and cultural realities of every people.81 The analogy of incarnation that emerged from the Vatican II document Ad Gentes, expressed as uncovering the ‘seeds of the Word which lie hidden among them’,82 and further developed by Paul VI,83 was eventually replaced by the concept of inculturation.84 It is unclear when exactly the term inculturation began to be invoked as a theological concept.85 Pedro Arrupe, in the late seventies, was perhaps the first to define the concept. He proposed that inculturation is the incarnation of Christian life and of the Christian message in a particular local cultural context, in such a way that the experience not only finds expression through elements proper to the culture in question (this alone would be no more than a superficial adaptation), but becomes a principle that ani-

81 82

83

84 85

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Evangelisation in the Modern World, # 63. See Ad Gentes, # 11. See also Ad Gentes, # 10. This states, ‘If the Church is to be in a position to offer all men the mystery of salvation and the life brought by God, then it must implant itself among all these groups in the same way that Christ by his incarnation committed himself to the particular social and cultural circumstances of men among whom he lived.’ On July 31st, 1969 Pope Paul visited Uganda and made a significant speech highlighting the need to recognise the values of African cultures and religious world views. The Pope stated, ‘A burning and much-discussed question arises concerning your evangelising work, and it is that the adaptation of the gospel and of the church to African culture. Must the Church be European, Latin, Oriental [...] or must she be African? This seems a difficult problem, and in practice may be so, indeed.’ Cited in Shorter, Toward a Theology of Inculturation, 208. See Aylward Shorter, Evangelisation and Culture, (London: Chapman, 1994), 35. See Peter Schineller, Handbook on Inculturation, 21. Schineller suggests Cardinal Sin of Manila used it at a Synod on Catechesis in Rome in 1977. See also Shorter, Evangelisation and Culture, note no. 18, 51. Shorter gives more detail as to the origins of the term. It may have first been coined in 1962 by Joseph Masson in an article entitled ‘L’Église ouverte sur le monde’, Nouvelle Revue Théologique, 84 (1962), 1038. However, other sources by Shorter suggest the anthropologist Melville Herskovits may have invented the term in the 1970s. According to Shorter, the phrase ‘inculturated Church’ was used by the Federation of Asian Episcopal Conferences in 1974.

mates, directs, and unifies a culture, transforming and remaking it so as to bring about ‘a new creation’.86

The consciousness of inculturation87 acknowledges the fact that there were new challenges for agents of Christian evangelisation in the contemporary world. The greatest challenge was cultural diversity and religious pluralism in the world. Because of advances in the interaction of cultures and religions through travel, communication, technology, economic globalisation, and so on, the reality of pluralism and diversity penetrated the evangelistic awareness of the church. Such awareness dissolves the tendency to impose a faith wrapped in the sentience of European religious and cultural narrations. Rather, the contemporary church is called upon to view its universal role as one of conversation and witness that adheres appropriately to its own beliefs. Chapter six deals in depth with these aspects. Agents of Christian evangelisation are challenged to distance themselves from accusations of religious and spiritual colonisation. The authentic Gospel values being discovered and shared within diverse cultures and religious perspectives needs to overcome the cultural accretions in which this Gospel is known in European countries. European culture that carries the life and message of Christianity for itself cannot inflict this upon nonEuropean and non-Christian ways of life. Ogbu Uke Kalu observed that the

86 87

Pedro Arrupe, ‘Letter to the whole Society on Inculturation’ in Studies in the International Apostolate of Jesuits (Washington: Jesuit Missions, 1978), 2. See John Paul II, On Catechesis in Our Time (Catechesi Tradendae), Apostolic exhortation of Pope John Paul II, October 16th, 1979. (Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference) # 53. Pope John Paul II used the term inculturation. Subsequently, it became commonly mentioned in contemporary discussions on evangelisation and Christian religious education. John Paul II writes, ‘As I said recently to the members of the Biblical Commission: The term “acculturation” or “inculturation” may be a neologism, but it expresses very well one factor of the great mystery of the Incarnation.’ His understanding of the term which he equates with ‘acculturation’ may be confusing. Acculturation is a distinct sociological concept that attempts to name the process of social change between one culture and another. For an explanation of the term acculturation, see Peter Schineller, Handbook on Inculturation, 22.

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missionary world view and undergirding culture was not necessarily biblical. It bore bold imprint of the cultures of the metropoles of missionary bodies. This is the cultural baggage with which Christianity, as an institution, diminished the force of the Kerygma.88

An authentic worldwide church is challenged to present itself deeply rooted and relevant in local contexts that share common visions for human life and the Transcendent.89 Christian evangelisation, in addition to being a local and contextual enterprise for liberation from structures of sin, is also a global endeavour that seeks the universalisation of the principle of humanisation through cultural, religious, social, economic, scientific, and political activities. The fullness of humanity is a global or universal objective that is specifically understood when the vision of the Reign of God is completely realised within the contours of particular socio-linguistic, cultural, and religious histories and visions. The specific theological approach of inculturation is relatively new as a theological concept. The understanding of inculturation continues to unfold within various appropriations of Gospel values within diverse cultures and religious experiences. John Baur proposes an interesting insight into the purpose of the paradigm for sharing the vision of the Gospel. For Baur, inculturation presupposes a conceptualisation that important life-giving values already exist in every culture and are embodied in the material of every culture. What exactly is ‘pure’ Gospel is open to different critical interpretations as well as what is considered ‘pure’ within African religiosity. He states, The method of the inculturation approach is not so much comparative as critical; it is a meeting of African culture with Christianity whereby in a continuous dialogue the pure Gospel message of the European Christian tradition is assessed in order to be assimilated to the African religion, and in turn African religiosity is exposed to a biblical criticism in order to render it conform to the Gospel.90

88 89 90

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Ogbu Uke Kalu, The Embattled Gods: Christianization of Igboland (Lagos and London: Minaj Publishers, 1996), 318. Pope John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio, Vatican, 1990, # 62. Baur, 2000 Years of Christianity in Africa: An African Church History, 436– 437.

Given Baur’s definition of inculturation, agents of Christian evangelisation are challenged to lead others to critically interpret different cultural and religious experiences. What are the criteria for such an evaluation? How is it ascertained that the Gospel is the actual transforming agent remaking cultures with diverse religious perspectives? What shape will Christianity or Christian culture91 take in the wake of such cultural and religious interaction? The implications of these questions should become evident in Chapter five in the analysis of the Turkana indigenous religious experience. Building upon the Second Vatican Council’s insights on culture and truth92 within various religious perspectives, I see evangelisation as engaging in a process of critical and respectful conversation for life-giving transformation between cultures with diverse religious perspectives. The task within culture is to name how God is present and in faithful relationship with us. This relational presence is somehow connected to how God saves in the world. Aylward Shorter suggests that the term inculturation ‘denotes the presentation and reexpression of the Gospel in forms and terms proper to a culture, processes which result in the reinterpretation of both, without being unfaithful to either.’93 Though this definition suggests there is interaction between the Gospel and the terms of a culture, there is no mention of how the Gospel might interact with a different religious world view embodied and manifested within a cultural system of its own. For example, is the Turkana indigenous religious world view simply reduced to a culture? Should there be a distinction made be91

92

93

There is some criticism concerning this expression as it may suggest a tendency toward a particular cultural supremacy. This is not my intention here only to recognise that the gospel will always be carried in a cultural meaning system that will need continual transformation. See Michael Paul Gallagher, Clashing Symbols: An Introduction to Faith and Culture (New York/Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1998), 54 and 60. See Nostra Aetate, # 2. See also, Gaudium et Spes, # 58. ‘The good news of Christ continually renews the life and culture of fallen man [...]. It takes the spiritual qualities and endowments of every age and nation, and with supernatural riches it causes them to blossom, as it were, from within; it fortifies, completes and restores them in Christ.’ Shorter, Evangelisation and Culture, 32.

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tween this religious system and the Christian religious system or Christian culture in order for authentic dialogue to take place to unveil the transcending nature of the Gospel? Shorter is clear in claiming that Traditional religion must be seen as an autonomous religious system apart from and distinct from Christianity. Only then is it possible for the Church to dialogue with it, and for Christians to make the necessary discernment of what is, or is not, compatible with the Gospel.94

While there is truth in Shorter’s claims, I contend that the criteria for evaluating life-giving aspects of Traditional religion does not belong exclusively to the Christian. Laurenti Magesa, among others, argues that African Religion must therefore be counted among the great world religions whose perceptions of God and created order direct the lives of millions of people, not only in Africa but also in various other places throughout the world.95

Christian missionaries are challenged to realise that God has already revealed Godself in other cultures and religions. Therefore, evangelisers are summoned to recognise that sharing faith and truth is a mutual partnership of witness and conversation toward God’s intention revealed in Jesus Christ. Inculturation was perceived as necessary in the task of evangelisation to avoid the danger of Christian faith ignoring or giving superficial recognition to local culture and indigenous religious values. Vincent Donovan, a missionary among the Maasai of Tanzania for seventeen years practised inculturation. Donovan made an important contribution to understanding the concept which moved away from previous methods of adaptation or accommodation.96 His in94 95 96

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Ibid., 46. See Laurenti Magesa, African Religion: The Moral Traditions of Abundant Life, (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1997), 287. For an understanding of this developing new evangelising consciousness among missionaries, see Vincent J. Donovan, Christianity Rediscovered (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1978). Donovan outlines his approach to mission that takes account of the local cultural context for advancing the gospel vision. See

sights advanced how culture features prominently as the ordinary means of salvation. Drawing upon his conversational experience among the Maasai, he discovered that God was always present and active among them. The Maasai referred to God as L’Engai who always lived on the snow-peaked Mount Kilimanjaro.97 Drawing upon the Maasai traditions, Donovan used the analogy of a lion to describe God and the way God searches for the Maasai.98 A lion is a significant symbol of power and strength for the Maasai. Though Donovan regarded the Maasai religion and its practices as ‘pagan’,99 he highlighted the importance of their customs and traditions to reflect salvific value. He contends that It is surely here in the midst of the cultures of the world, and not in the church, that the ordinary way of salvation must lie, the ordinary means of salvation, the very possibility of salvation for most of the human race [...]. I had to realise that God enables a people, any people, to reach salvation through their culture and tribal, racial customs, and traditions.100

Although Donovan inspired the process of inculturation during the last three decades of the twentieth century, his model of inculturation reflected a privileged role for Christian missionaries. This is reflected in the notion that missionaries are ‘bringing’ the Gospel to the Maasai.101 For missionaries uncovering the Gospel among adherents of diverse religious and cultural perspectives a paradigm of mutual interdependency is necessary which goes beyond the notion of inculturation. The process of evangelising generally, and Christian

97 98 99

100 101

also Vincent J. Donovan, The Church in the Midst of Creation (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1989). Vincent J. Donovan, Christianity Rediscovered, 113–114. Ibid., 61–64. Ibid., 113. Donovan, referring to the dancing, singing, ritualistic drinking, processions around the village, and prayers led by a Maasai elder, states that ‘It was all a beautiful, if extraordinary, example of pagan religion at its best.’ Ibid., 30ff. Ibid., 31. In relation to bringing the gospel to the Maasai, Donovan states ‘At that moment facing me was that vast, sprawling, all-pervasive complex of customs and traditions and values and dictates of human behavior which was the Masai culture, a nation in the biblical sense, to whom I had to bring the gospel.’

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religious formation particularly, is challenged always to be cognizant of the fundamental ‘good news’ already contained within specific cultures and within other religious perspectives. Later in Chapter five an in-depth survey in relation to the Turkana indigenous religious ‘good news’ will be conveyed. As Eugene Hillman asserts, ‘Christians everywhere may have something to learn from the divine revelations (good news) reflected in the expressions and celebrations of African traditional religions.’102 To summarise, this chapter reviewed very broadly the imposition of Christian faith in history, especially in Africa. In very general terms, the way Christianity came to the Turkana of Kenya was outlined. Developments in mission thinking was surveyed to highlight the evolution of learning that was taking place over the history of Christian mission. Such hard lessons stimulate an exigency toward a fresh consciousness for sharing the vision of the Gospel. The next chapter explores the paradigm of interculturation. Such a concept challenges previous methods of assimilation, adaptation, indigenisation, incarnation, and inculturation. Religious and Theological interculturation proposes to respect the fertile and substantial structures of life-giving meaning embraced by diverse cultures and religions, especially among African peoples. Within an age of increasing religious and cultural pluralism this concept offers the prospect of better understanding Christian evangelisation as well as responding to the signs of the times.

102

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Hillman, Toward an African Christianity, 50.

Chapter Two Religious and Theological Interculturation

Introduction Intercultural communication is viewed as a symbolic exchange process between persons of different cultures. The general goal of effective intercultural communication is to create shared meanings between dissimilar individuals in an interactive situation. – Stella Ting-Toomey1

Building upon and moving beyond the notion of inculturation, I propose that the concept of interculturation may explain more adequately the interaction between cultures and religions in uncovering and disclosing Gospel vision. I offer an appraisal and critique of the concept interculturation. Is another theological construction necessary to understand the complex cultural and religious interaction of diverse and multicultural societies? Have Christians really understood the principles of inculturation, a syllogism to explain the intersection of Christian faith and culture(s)? In an age of not only economic globalisation, various religious and spiritual perspectives are locally and globally participating in the transformation of the peoples of the world. These cultures and religious world views interact in a process of interculturation in which a reciprocal evangelisation uncovers and affirms the presence of what Christians name as Gospel vision.

1

Stella Ting-Toomey, Communicating Across Cultures (New York: The Guilford Press, 1999), 21.

A. Beyond Inculturation The Concept As a theological concept, inculturation typically understood and practised, does not go far enough in explaining the dynamic symbolic interaction between Gospel and culture; Gospel and diverse cultures; and Gospel and other religions.2 The concept does not take fully into account the complicated reality of the interaction between the accumulated Christian culture in which the Gospel is carried and the various levels of meaning that other cultures and other religions manifest. For example, the meaning of emotional pain, forgiveness, reconciliation, illness, death, and so on, carry different implications.3 Discovering how these conceptual realities are lived and transmitted within various cultures and how different religions interpret them is an important aspect of understanding how Gospel vision can be shared and understood. Not only is this a theological task, but it is also an intercultural religious activity that informs all cultures including Christian culture (see figure 1, p.65). I propose that the theological and religious concept of interculturation may help to delve deeper into understanding conversation between diverse cultures and between plural religious perspectives.4 This coined term began to appear in theological literature toward the end of the twentieth century. Bishop Joseph Blomjous (1908–1992) 2

3

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See Bosch, Transforming Mission, 455. In critiquing the concept inculturation, Bosch argues that ‘The West has often domesticated the gospel in its own culture while making it unnecessarily foreign to other cultures.’ See Anthony J. Gittins, Reading the Clouds: Mission Spirituality for New Times (Missouri: Liguori Press, 1999), 76–95. Gittins suggests that we are called ‘to become a community of healers and a healing community’ (95). We are called to cross cultural and religious boundaries and margins in order to heal for wholeness. Though I am using the term in a theological and religious sense, this does not exclude it from other disciplines in which the concept of interculturation is invoked such as in the human sciences, communication theory, political science, and education, among others.

was credited in 1980 with coining the term ‘interculturation’ to preserve the mutuality and partnership of the inculturation process.5 Undergirding his concern was the fact that the concept inculturation could give the impression that faith was merely transferred from one culture to another. This interpretation suggested that Christian evangelisation was a one-way process of imposing a particular religious faith on another culture with a diverse religious perspective. Rather than the Christian vision of faith being shared, it was being received by non-European cultures as an imposition because of its alien cultural expressions and interpretations. Some Christians may believe that the concept inculturation has never been fully understood. In my view, as it stands the inculturation concept is incapable of going further than the particularity of the intersection of Christian faith and culture(s). This reduces everything outside the Christian religion to culture, ignoring the reality of Gospel values percolating through the other religions.

Christian Religious Tradition & Culture

Uncovering the Gospel

Diverse Religious Tradition & Culture

Figure 1: Religious and Theological Interculturation

5

Blomjous, Joseph. ‘Development in Mission Thinking and Practice 1959–1980: Inculturation and Interculturation’. African Ecclesial Review (AFER), 22 6(1980), 393.

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Culture and Religion The proper understanding of interculturation necessitates defining what is meant by culture and religion.6 There is little agreement on what definition is accurate and inclusive of all aspects of human activity that is constitutive of culture or cultures.7 Clifford Geertz, a cultural anthropologist, and Robert Schreiter, a theologian, offer helpful reference points to understanding the meaning of culture in which religion and spirituality influence as well as impact on the continuing process of culture. Clearly, the following definitions do not encompass the entire spectrum of cultural experience.8 Geertz defines the process of culture as that which denotes an historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbol forms by means of which men (women) communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life.9

What is helpful about Geertz’s definition is the role symbols play in carrying significant meaning within cultures and between cultures. Culture functions not just to provide a cohesive order within a society but, because of its symbolic nature, it points to something more than its own existential reality. In other words, symbols have a capacity to transcend given interpretations of reality within diverse cultures and even among different religious experiences. Moreover, religion is viewed by Geertz as belonging to such a defined system of symbols. Since religion is a form of cultural action, 6 7

8

9

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For an exploration of the concept culture, see Michael Paul Gallagher, Clashing Symbols, 11–23. See more definitions of the meaning of culture in Gallagher, ‘Anthology of Quotations on Culture’ Clashing Symbols, 151–154. See also Gittins, Reading the Clouds: Mission Spirituality for New Times, 74–75. See Gallagher, Clashing Symbols, 11–23. Gallagher critiques Geertz’s definition of culture. Gallagher contends that ‘Geertz does not suggest anything about the “complex whole” that culture entails [...] but generally he is more aware of the diversity of culture than of its unity’ (16). Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973), 89.

it functions as a significant resource in the interpretation and the construction of culture. Geertz contends that a religion as part of the construct of culture, is a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and longlasting moods and motivations in men (women) by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic.10

For Geertz, this means that symbols give concrete shape to various thoughts and emotions. They are conceptualised from human experience lived in a context ‘fixed in perceptible forms, concrete embodiments of ideas, attitudes, judgments, longings, or beliefs’11 Geertz does not analyze the theological significance of religious symbols. Rather, from a scientific approach, he argues, for example, in relation to the problem of suffering, that ‘religious symbols provide a cosmic guarantee’ for people’s ability to comprehend the world and in comprehending it, to give a description of their feelings to define their emotions in such a way that they are enabled to endure suffering.12 While I agree with Geertz on the symbolic nature of culture and the nature of religion to embody a reality that has yet to come into existence, Geertz’s description of religious symbols is limited to the concrete and emotional aspects of human beings. His descriptions do not attend sufficiently and explicitly to the mystical, spiritual, and transcendent realities in cultures and religions. Religious symbols have the capability to evoke faith, belief, and commitment because they engage the creative imagination of the human being. Religious symbols are webs of significance,13 grounded 10 11 12 13

Ibid., 90. Ibid., 91. Ibid., 104. Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures. Geertz, in relation to culture, understands the phenomenon of human culture as a context for ‘symbolic action’ (10). Borrowing from Max Weber, Geertz perceives the human being as ‘suspended in webs of significance’ that the person has woven (5). Culture is perceived by Geertz as being like these webs and rather than analyse them for some scientific law, he suggests they can be interpreted for meaning. Every culture consists of infinite details that explain various ‘structures of signifi-

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in a specific culture, that can be interpreted for meaning that explains and transcends the concrete experience toward a relationship with the Transcendent; God. Indeed, these symbols provide a means for social change and human transformation within webs of relationships. Consequently, religion is a significant aspect of culture and powerfully shapes how human beings construct religious and spiritual meaning toward that which is transcendent. For Geertz, religious symbols ‘store’ meanings.14 The performance of rituals and myths dramatise the way the world is for a particular people and how they should feel and behave within such a world view. The function of symbols, e.g., in music, dance, art, liturgical rituals, the cross, fashion, and so on, is to enable human beings transcend and give meaning to their lived experience. Furthermore, in functioning to coordinate and organise society in reflecting upon itself, religious symbols can be a means to carry faith and a specific understanding of what it means to be in relationship with the Divine. The significance of Religious symbols will be highlighted again in the case-study of the Turkana indigenous religion in chapter five and again in chapter six when a pedagogical methodology for reciprocal interculturation is proposed. Schreiter explores the meaning of the concept of culture from a semiotic point of view. Influenced by the writing of Jens Loenhoff, he suggests that culture is to be mined for ‘how signs carry messages through a culture, creating the circulation of meaning.’15 He views culture as consisting of ‘ideas and rules, performance, and material artifacts.’16 Schreiter holds that culture has three important dimensions. He writes, First of all, culture is ideational – it provides systems or frameworks of meaning which serve both to interpret the world and to provide guidance for living in the world. Culture in this dimension embodies beliefs, values, attitudes, and rules

14 15 16

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cance’(9). For Geertz, these structures, when analysed by ethnographers, constitute a ‘thick’ description of how different cultures construct their meaning. Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, 127. Robert Schreiter, The New Catholicity: Theology between the Global and the Local (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Press, 1997), 47. Ibid., 47.

for behavior. Second, culture is performance – rituals that bind a culture’s members together to provide them with a participatory way of embodying and enacting their histories and values. Performance also encompasses embodied behaviors. Third, culture is material – the artifacts and symbolisations that become a source for identity: language, food, clothing, music, and the organization of space.17

Defining Interculturation Interculturation18 means that diverse cultures with plural religious perspectives interact with each other for the betterment of humankind locally and globally. At the core of the process is the vision of the Gospel which is interpreted both culturally and religiously from different religious and non-religious perspectives. Interpretation of this nature gives way to mutual life-giving transformation of both culture and religion.19 The objective is to discover the intercultural face of God residing in the midst of diversely constructed human cultures and religious perspectives. That is to say, aspects of the Gospel are already reflected in the cultural life and religious experience of the people. Interculturation does not mean that the Gospel has to be ‘inserted’ into 17 18

19

Ibid., 29. For more information on defining this term and other terms employed, see Shorter, Toward A Theology of Inculturation, 3–16. See Schineller, Handbook on Inculturation, 14–24 for explanations of words like indigenization, acculturation, enculturation, and so on. Interculturation can be distinguished from these terms and the meanings given to such terms. See also Bosch, Transforming Mission, 455–457. See Peter C. Phan, Mission and Catechesis: Alexandre de Rhodes and Inculturation in Seventeenth-Century Vietnam (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1998), 199. Phan defines the process of inculturation as ‘the process whereby the Christian faith is integrated into the culture of the people to whom the Good News is preached in such a way that both the faith is expressed in the elements of this culture and transforms it from within, and the culture in turn enriches and transforms the previous expression of the Christian faith brought in from outside.’ The transformative element missing in this definition is the role other religions play in enriching and transforming previous expressions of Christian faith. Diverse religious perspectives cannot be reduced simply to culture. To do so gives the impression that Christian faith expressed religiously is somehow superior.

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every culture and religious standpoint.20 The language of insertion intimates that a particular religious and cultural perspective, like the Christian one, has the sole authority over discovering the seeds of the Gospel in all cultures and religions. As a consequence of interreligious and intercultural interaction, religious and cultural identities will undergo reinterpretation within the process of communicative interaction21 (see chapter six, figure 6.3, pp.254–255). Adherents to particular religious and cultural meaning perspectives are challenged to understand themselves in new ways as they respond to the life-giving vision of the Gospel message. ‘Mutual understanding and enrichment’22 are the desired outcomes from an authentic and respectful exchange between individuals and communities of faith within diverse cultures that profess different religious viewpoints. Christian culture itself will be enriched by cultural and religious diversity as it interacts with different religions and cultures. Contrasted religious traditions will interpret and appropriate Christian assumptions and symbols for carrying Gospel values. For example, within a sub-Saharan African religious context, the remembering of significant ancestors within the celebration of Christian confirmation becomes a part of Christian culture in this context. Simultaneously, various African indigenous religious traditions are enriched by the recognition, for example, within the Christian sacrament of marriage, of the significant meaning animals such as oxen, camels, and goats reflect for a rural African meaning perspective and sense of right rela-

20

21 22

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See Gerald A. Arbuckle, Earthing The Gospel: An Inculturation Handbook for the Pastoral Worker (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1990), 18. Arbuckle contends that because evangelisation is a process of ‘reliving the incarnation itself’, this ‘demands the insertion of the Gospel within the very heart of a culture.’ He does not mention how the gospel could go to the heart of a different religious viewpoint or how the gospel goes to the heart of Christian culture itself transforming it to reflect gospel vision? Shorter, Evangelisation and Culture, 38. Vatican Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, ‘Dialogue and Proclamation’. Bulletin of the Pontifical Council on Interreligious Dialogue, 26 2 (1991).

tionship.23 What needs to be emphasised within the mutual exchange is that religion or religions, and the theological interpretation of them, are human constructs that form part of cultural activity toward cultural development and transformation.24 Religion as a particular cultural form evokes meaning for people within its own specific embodiment of religious meaning-making through particular practices like rituals, dances, songs, stories, prayers, and so on. Religious and theological interculturation is an evolutionary process that envisions the viewing of ‘truth’ as a shared reality in the midst of pluralism and diversity.25 It enables Christian evangelisers to see that mission is not one sided but is an evolving mutual partnership of witness and conversation toward Gospel vision. For Christians the Gospel, uniquely revealed by Jesus Christ within a particular cultural and historical context, is the fundamental criterion for truth and goodness. Signs of the Gospel exist in all cultures and religions. Discovering and observing the diverse manifestations of the Gospel within all 23

24 25

Elements of what it means to be in right relationship are embodied within African traditional religions. There are examples of fostering right relationship within the cultures through the structures of local prophecy, sacrifice of precious animals, and festivals, etc. Music, dance, and narratives of heroism express identity and a capacity to hope in the future. Within some traditional African marriages a bull is slaughtered to symbolise the union. Animals generally are exchanged between families in order to legalize the marriage before the official ceremony. Usually, the man or his family give an agreed amount of animals or some other gifts to the family of the girl the man intends to marry. This is called a dowry. See Kathryn Tanner, Theories of Culture: A New Agenda For Theology, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997), 63–71. See Milton J. Bennett, ‘Intercultural Communication: A Current Perspective’, in Milton J. Bennett, ed., Basic Concepts of Intercultural Communication: Selected Readings (Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press, Inc., 1998), 26–30. Drawing on communication theory, Bennett, describes the evolutionary process of interculturation that begins from the ethnocentric stages of denial and proceeds towards the ethno relative stages of integration. He concludes that ‘intercultural communication envisions a reality which will support the simultaneous existence of unity and diversity, of cooperation and competition in the global village, and of consensus and creative conflict in multicultural societies. In this vision, our different voices can be heard both in their uniqueness and in synergistic harmony’ (31).

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cultures and religions is a key task of Christian evangelisation through the agency of the church. The objective of this evangelising is to ascertain the features of an intercultural face of God through a mutual conversational partnership. Co-missioning becomes a mutual exchange of economic, cultural, political, and religious gifts that reveal God’s intention of life for all. Missionary activity everywhere should be an exchange that embodies mutual trust and friendship. Such activity envisions evangelisation as both ‘giving’ and ‘receiving’ and is grounded in shared human desires reflected in the need for lifegiving human relationships. So, an African indigenous religious way of life and its message, exhibited through a complex system of local ritual practices and religious beliefs, becomes a principle for animation and direction for Christianity.26 Also, since Christianity has attained particular European cultural accretions over the centuries, care must be taken by missionaries not to impose those cultural trappings on African ways of knowing. Rather, the Christian vision of salvation/wholeness, unveiled by the historical Jesus in the Gospels, can be shared and mediated respectfully within the socio-linguistic and cultural contexts of diverse African sensibilities like the Turkana.27 That is to say, there will be elements of Christianity that will be borrowed and used within different cultures and religious traditions. Some form of syncretism is inevitable, but it does not have to change the authentic meaning of the Gospel message. Schreiter observes that, Coercion and domination play a strong role in syncretism, both in forcing certain kinds of identity to appear, and in acts of resistance to such use of power. The asymmetries of power relationships must always be examined in 26

27

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See Grenham, ‘Interculturation: Exploring changing Religious, Cultural, and Faith Identities in an African Context’, Pacifica: Australian Theological Studies 14 2 (2001), 191–206. I suggest that ‘Traditional religious and cultural symbols have the potential to explain and reveal the meaning of life in order to transcend it’ (195). See Pashington Obeng, Asante Catholicism: Religious and Cultural Reproduction (The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1996), 7. Obeng, citing Jean-Marie Elà, contends that ‘for the Christian gospel to be worth its salt in Africa, the local people must take hold of Christianity and interpret it with their own sensibilities to confront new social, economic, and religious realities.’

situations involving new formations of religious identity. All too often it is the case that churches of wealthy nations align themselves against the emerging churches of poor nations, ready to deliver pronouncements of syncretism upon them. At the same time, those same wealthy churches are unwilling to see their own perversions of the Gospel message. One cannot, and must not, evade the question of power in probings of syncretism and religious identity.28

Given this observation by Schreiter, caution needs to be exercised in the pronouncement on syncretism. What should lie at the core of any evaluation is whether or not Gospel values are advanced within religious interculturation. Is the interreligious exchange reflecting genuine justice, peace, and human wellbeing for all? Within an authentic interreligious exchange, I contend that the essential identity of the Christian message will remain the same. The historical Jesus who became the Christ of faith is a non-negotiable for Christian synthesis. The changes that do occur will be reflected in the specificity of the cultural expression of the Gospel. However, for uncovering of the seeds of God’s reign within a specific culture, there needs to be a change and a move away from the language of Ad Gentes in which the agent of the Christian message sees the task merely as ‘implanting the Church in a particular community.’ This implantation reaches a definite point when the assembly of the faithful, already rooted in the social life of the people and to some extent conformed to its culture, enjoys a certain stability and permanence; when it has its own priests, although insufficient, its own religious and laity, and possesses those ministries and institutions which are required for leading and spreading the life of the people of God under the leadership of their own bishop.29

As well as implanting this vision of church, there needs primarily to be the broader and deeper insight of uncovering and understanding the already existing presence and activity of God in every culture and religious perspective. Then, following such a ‘discovery’, a distinctive local church can emerge with the intent of developing its own image 28

29

Schreiter, The New Catholicity, 72. For an in-depth analysis of the meaning of syncretism, see Robert Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1985), 144–158. Ad Gentes # 19 (Vatican Council II), 835.

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of God that speaks to the needs of that community. It is God’s reign of life for all through forgiveness, reconciliation, peace, love, compassion, and justice, and so on, that exists within the fabric of existence within every culture and religious perspective that needs to find appropriate expression. This approach can create more effectively the intention of Ad Gentes in establishing authentic particular churches that share in the life of the worldwide church.30 These local, visibly contextualised churches can embrace a particular Christian identity on their own cultural and religious terms.31 Rather than institutionalising a God already known in the Western world, Christian evangelisers need to be open to discovering a God they have yet to meet within diverse cultures. Determining that particular cultural or religious expressions do not hold superiority over the Gospel is essential. Cultures and religions, through their specific deep frameworks for human meaningmaking, provide many opportunities for the Gospel to be an agent for individual and collective transformation. In other words, the Gospel’s invitation is to redeem culture and to transform it in such a way that it reflects and promotes the dignity of every human being. Through rituals, liturgy, and various sacramental practices, human meaning can find authentic expression that brings a sense of a common vision for human wellbeing.

30

31

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See Leonardo Boff, Ecclesiogenesis: The Base Communities Reinvent the Church (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1986). Boff, arguing for base Christian communities as a way for the Church to reinvent itself, is concerned that the experience of church be one that is participatory and collaborative at a local level. Ad Gentes # 20 (Vatican Council II), 836. The local church is a sign of God’s reign to all by its witness to the message revealed by Jesus Christ.

B. Evaluating Interculturation Mutuality and Reciprocity in Evangelisation Some Christians may feel that perhaps there may be too many concepts in circulation that confuses the task of mission. Nevertheless, concepts have changed and developed according to the signs of the times. In an age of increasing pluralism and diversity, there is a need to unwrap the interculturation concept to more fully address these times. In my opinion, interculturation is an idea that is flexible and dynamic enough to assist the understanding of the current complex age of cultural religious interaction and theological reconstruction. The theological notion of inculturation is limited to the inner workings of Christian faith and culture. As it has been understood and practised in the field, inculturation does not have the conceptual and imaginative capacity to realise and affirm the authentic and unique truth that diverse religions already reflect inside cultures and multicultural contexts. Vatican II acknowledged that other religions held truth but that this truth was only ‘a ray of that truth which enlightens all men (women).’32 Forty years later, the world has changed considerably. Perceptions of diverse cultures and religions have been transformed by better communication facilities, by faster information processing through the internet, by increased commercial travel, and by economic and technological globalisation. Christians, among other religious believers, are learning that other religions hold perhaps more than rays of the truth, that they are in fact authentic resources of spiritual transcendence. Many theologians are asking and responding to the theological question: are there other paths to salvation besides an exclusively Christian one? My proposal of a religious and theological interculturation does not respond to this question specifically from a dogmatic theological standpoint. Rather, the proposal offers a variety of religious, theological and anthropological (cultural) insights into enhancing and enriching Gospel evangelisation amid the legitimacy of religious and theological plural32

Nostra Aetate # 2 (Vatican Council II), 739.

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ism. An inclusive religious and theological interculturation provides a process in which to discover a way toward the human freedom of all in every situation and context. This is not a process to relativise the salvific truth claims of any religion. Rather, the attempt is to enhance the distinctive historical particularities of cultures and religions and, in the process, underscore the uniqueness of their claims to cosmic truth. Interculturation is, therefore, a paradigm that will concretise in history the vision of the Reign of God already present and active within cultures with diverse religious and spiritual perspectives. Such a concept does not reduce the salvific distinctiveness of Jesus Christ within the corpus of Christian tradition or diminish the spiritual vision of other religions. No two religions are the same even if they share a similar tradition such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Theologically, interculturation means that diverse visions of God’s self-revelation must be respected and appropriated accordingly. Religiously, it means that there will be mutual interaction and participation in the life-giving rituals and practices of religious expression. My view of Christian evangelisation is that it should not simply Christianise other religious meaning perspectives so that they reflect and embody Christian culture. Rather, it should enable and encourage different religious world views to mediate authentic humanisation toward God’s intention of right relationship with ourselves, others, and all creation. The Inner Competence of Missionaries Within the contemporary plural and diverse world, Christian representatives of the Gospel need to be conscious of three fundamental principles. First, missionaries everywhere interacting within and among diverse cultures and religious world views need to be comfortable with their own sense of Christian identity and purpose. Secondly, all agents of the Gospel are challenged to be open to engaging and learning Gospel values reflected through different cultural and religious experiences. It needs to be emphasised that the Christian pastoral agent has a serious obligation to know, at a critical, intellectual as well as a social and psychological level the culture, and the religion of the people he/she is assigned to serve. In spite of lip76

service to inculturation, this has not happened for the vast majority of missionaries. Being open to diverse cultures and religions will evoke a third element in their missionary work; the realisation that missionaries could be changed or transformed. This transformation will be mutual and reciprocal within a paradigmatic process of respectful intercultural and interreligious interaction toward Gospel vision. The process of change for intercultural Christian agents of the Gospel, who already carry a particular cultural and religious vision of what being-in-relationship-with-God means for them, is important. Such a process needs to be sensitive and at the same time nurture an appreciation of the multifaceted way God is in relationship with them, others, and the created world. Likewise, the people from the diverse host cultures, whom the Christian gospel agents serve, already live a vision of relationship through their own existing religious traditions, African traditional religions, Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and so on. These people interacting with Christian agents and representatives from other religions are challenged to interpret in an enlarged way their relationship with themselves, others, creation, and the transcendent. This interpretation will necessitate appropriate sharing of cultural elements. Cultural Borrowing The integrity of Christian representatives, Islamic Imams, African traditionalists, Buddhist monks, among others, is important now as it will increasingly be in the future. Who these religious agents may become in the future depends upon the depth of interaction with different cultures and religious experiences. Borrowing or sharing of cultural and religious ideas, rituals, spirituality, and customs, will be an essential segment in this process of mutual understanding. The purpose is to enhance faith, cooperation, and growth. For example, elements of Christianity will be borrowed and appropriated within different religious traditions and vice versa. Within an African world view, the traditional veneration of ancestors is incorporated into the Christian understanding of the Communion of Saints. 77

Though the concept may be enriched and perhaps deepened, this does not mean that the traditional veneration of ancestors within an African traditional religion is reduced or becomes inadequate. Rather, ancestor veneration holds its unique identity and is enhanced in its relationship with the Christian tradition of Communion of Saints. Conversely, the Communion of Saints vision while being enriched by the African veneration of ancestors maintains its integrity as specifically grounded in its Christian religious tradition. In subsequent chapters I discuss how the process works firstly in relation to the biblical foundations, secondly with Matteo Ricci’s work in China and thirdly among the contemporary Turkana nomads of Kenya. Eugene Hillman observes that ‘both borrowing and changing, probably more often than not, contribute to the vitality of any society. Instead of trying always to avoid them, innovations may be seen generally as things to be integrated in the life of society.’33 Living in multiple religious systems simultaneously, as alluded to earlier, does not change the authentic universal meaning of the Gospel message.34 Rather, the borrowing of certain elements is an essential dynamic of the religious intercultural process. Both religious traditions will be reinterpreted and redefined within the dynamic interaction between them. This happens in order to advance human life and dignity through the lens of what Christians name as God’s reign. In every culture and religion contextual meaning, that is, meaning understood at a local level may have a universal impact on all cultures. Through the process of interculturation, which creates a space for encountering elements of diverse cultures and religions, lifegiving meaning can be interpreted and articulated. Multicultural and multireligious societies experience a range of contextual meanings. But if there is sufficient shared universal meaning or a common vision which fosters and sustains an integral continuity, multicultural societies can thrive. From a theological perspective, human language in its 33 34

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Hillman, Toward An African Christianity, 73. See Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies, 144. Schreiter defines syncretism as having to ‘do with the mixing of elements of two religious systems to the point where at least one, if not both, of the systems loses basic structure and identity’ (144).

various forms plays a key role in shaping and vocalising both contextual and universal meaning.

C. Universal and Contextual Meaning Language For theological and religious interculturation to function as a paradigm for Christian evangelisation, it needs intelligible language to give life-giving meaning. Not only is meaning contextual, it has also the capacity to reflect universal meaning through accurate translation. This translation is not only concerned with using comparable words but with translating metaphors, ideas, similarities, contrasts, concepts, emotions, and so on, to facilitate meaningful communication. For example, a significant characteristic of the interpretation between the Christian world view and an African perspective of the world revolves around the appropriate use of language in the translation of Gospel meanings.35 Linguist Anna Wierzbicka observes The very idea that the Gospel was to be taken beyond the boundaries of the Jewish world and taught to the Gentiles – in Greece, in Rome, and elsewhere – presupposed a view that the core of the intended Gospel message was universal rather than culture-specific.36

Language is significant if such a theological vision as the Christian gospel is to have relevance for every person and cultural context.37 Language is the medium of an empathic dialectical tension between 35

36

37

For an overview of the language and culture manifested in Turkana, See Gunter Best, Culture and Language of the Turkana, NW Kenya (Heidelberg: C. Winter Universitatsverlag, 1983). See Anna Wierzbicka, What did Jesus Mean?: Explaining the Sermon on the Mount and the Parables in Simple and Universal Human Concepts (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2001), 9. Ibid., 3–23.

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cultures. That is to say, it provides the focus for eliciting a hermeneutical diagnosis concerning perceptions of history, justice, identity, power, religion, faith, and so on. Thus, knowledge of and sensitivity to language is a priority for evangelists within a diverse culture. Using an appropriate metaphor within the parameters of a particular context to explain the nature of God is significant not only for contextual meaning but to reflect universal meaning as well. Metaphors Wierzbicka in her linguistic analysis of the ability of some human concepts to carry universal relevance appraises metaphors for their capacity to embody profound truths. She writes, Whatever anyone may say about the truth or otherwise of any particular metaphor, metaphors can undoubtedly encapsulate profound truths; and in Christianity and other world religions, some of the deepest and most important truths have been formulated, preserved, and transmitted through the centuries in metaphors.38

Though much of what Wierzbicka states about the significance of metaphors for theology and Christianity is appreciated, I wonder about the capacity of some metaphors to carry sufficient universal and inclusive meaning for all in every context. Even with the best of linguistic interpretation, metaphors are limited in the meaning they convey. Metaphors emerge out of particular historical and religious contexts and carry the cultural and religious prejudicial accretions of those contexts. For example seeing God metaphorically as ‘Father’ reinforces the dominance of a patriarchical society which precludes perceiving God metaphorically as ‘Mother.’39 Is it possible to experience God both as ‘Father and Mother’? What metaphor would serve to explain this experience? There may be a general desire among Christians to be inclusive. But the language invoked seems to condone 38 39

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Ibid., 445. For more on the imaging of God, see Daphne Hampson, Theology and Feminism (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1990), 92–115.

and protect the status quo of cultural and religious prejudice. Can Christianity and its theology be authentically experienced as universal and, at the same time, inclusive when exclusive terminology and prejudiced analogies are commonly employed? Can language be reconstructed to enhance the purposes of a meaningful and all-embracing communication? In relation to an African world view and among the Turkana people among whom I ministered, the image or word for God that is helpful for the nomadic pastoralists’ experience is Ekeyokon (Shepherd). This metaphor works well among the people of this context steeped in a culture of nomadic livestock management. Such a metaphor may not be appropriate for other contexts say, in New York, London, or Beijing or diverse African contexts. This metaphor for God coincides with how the Turkana way of life evolves around the care for their flocks of goats, sheep, and herds of cattle and camels. For Turkana Christians, the comparative analogy of the Turkana shepherd can enable imagining a liberating God saving through Jesus who is a true diviner (Emuron lo a Iteni) and Good Shepherd. Yet, at the same time, the metaphor presents a limited vision of God for the Turkana because it does not fully appreciate the distinctive role women have in the culture. Women are not shepherds in this culture. The woman looks after the children, cooks, and takes care of the home. To be more inclusive, the metaphor needs to explicitly incorporate the Turkana woman’s activities. A more detailed account of the Turkana cosmology and cultural context is outlined in chapter five. Discovering the appropriate image to mediate the universal truth of God’s loving power to liberate through Jesus is crucial. To enable every cultural context to appropriate a unique aspect of God’s selfrevelation, a suitable, all-encompassing metaphor hewn out of the cultural and religious material of that context reflects a meaningful God. For example, the power of the metaphor for God is reinforced through a Turkana shepherd who would not give a second thought to walking a hundred kilometres to find grass for his animals. When an animal is sick, lame, or hungry, the shepherds do not hesitate to provide for that animal. They perceive God to be like a caring shepherd. For women, though, a different concept may need envisioning to balance a heavy patriarchical metaphorical dominance. A suggestion 81

might be to emphasise the metaphor of the heart (etau) which represents the core of the life-force in all: people, plants, animals, and the entire cosmos. The Holy Spirit is known as Etau lo Ebusean (heart that is holy or blessed) and can be understood and experienced as permeating all aspects of Turkana life. In contrast, from a Western cultural perspective, ministering in a downtown parish in Boston, USA, the metaphor of shepherd does not effectively explain the universal care of God. Few, if any, have physically been among shepherds and sheep except to see them on TV. Such a metaphor does not have the same impact on people’s lives. In that context, I took the liberty to construct a new metaphor. Comparing God’s care to that of a compassionate ‘personnel manager’ gave the people, both male and female, enmeshed in a corporate world context a deeper sense of God’s love for them. This metaphor is limited to the human experience of the context. Yet, at the same time, it has a capacity to encompass a much greater meaning for the people of this Boston parish at the heart of a busy commercial hub. The metaphor communicates the universality of human belonging, care, and compassion. Appropriate Images for God Religious and theological interculturation is concerned with finding the appropriate words and concepts to express a life-giving image of God for every context. This is a challenging task but a necessary one for crossing cultural and religious boundaries. Though human language is limited, this does not mean that new meaningful language cannot be constructed to explain life-giving meaning for our times. For example, using the Turkana language system to evoke the people’s deepest aspirations is fundamental to the process of a meaningful personal and communal liberation. The Turkana expression for Jesus Christ is Emuron lo a Iteni which means ‘the true diviner.’ This places Jesus Christ within the world view of the Turkana who understand the role of ‘the true diviner’ as one who has special healing powers. The Turkana people put a lot of trust in the ability of their diviners to heal them. Consequent upon this understanding, the Turkana can begin to 82

appropriate, on their terms, the identity of the historical Jesus and his mission in the world. Again, this is a limited metaphor as few women are diviners. But there is potential here to include more women into the role of diviner and to experience the inclusiveness of Jesus’ humanity. Jesus experienced as the great Emuron, who with impeccable integrity distinguishes himself from local Ngimurok (diviners) who succumb to corruption, provides a life-giving connection to God. The meaning of Jesus Christ is anchored in the meaning and role that a diviner enjoys within the Turkana traditional religion. Accepting Jesus Christ as a diviner, will enable the Turkana people to listen to Jesus’ dream and prediction for them as a community. In this way, God’s loving intention for the Turkana is made intelligible. The Turkana can relate meaningfully to the promise of salvation in their midst. I contend that Emuron lo a Iteni is an appropriate title for Jesus Christ in the Turkana local context. Benezet Bujo declares that ‘It is only legitimate today to give to Jesus Christ titles more deeply rooted in the culture of the people to whom the message of the Gospel is being addressed.’40 Bujo goes on to suggest that an appropriate title for Jesus Christ is ‘Proto-Ancestor’.41 Though this is not the only possible model for the African context, there can be others such as Jesus as Chief, Healer, and Diviner. Similar to the challenge Western cultures and their attendant contexts have, every African context is called upon to weave a meaningful and transformative christology. The use of ‘Proto-Ancestor’, as a component of what appears to be a descending christology, does speak to the human experience of many African peoples and seeing Jesus Christ in this light can have a powerful transformative impact on people’s lives.42 However, within 40 41 42

Benezet Bujo, African Theology in Its Social Context (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992), 84. Ibid., 83. Different theologies and christologies are developing across the African continent. For example, in Malawi, Central Africa, a liberation theology known as uMunthu is becoming a powerful force for the people. This Malawian theology and christology addresses the specific historical experience among the people of Malawi. The word munthu means human person. uMunthu represents life and

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some other African contexts, it seems that connecting Jesus Christ to the human context of diviner, different from the notion and level of ancestor, creates a space for a christology to emerge from below. Perceiving Jesus Christ as a true diviner can be at the core of Christian catechesis for some African contexts. For example, Jesus Christ as ‘diviner’ can be ground for a mutual conversation between the Christian experience of Jesus Christ and the Turkana experience of the emuron (diviner) discussed already. Not only are the translation of words important for religious and theological interculturation, cultural narratives and religious symbols play a definitive role in conveying life and meaning. Narrative and Symbol Interculturation in the way I describe it involves the interpretation and re-interpretation of cultural narratives and religious symbols in the lived experience of every person and community. Such narratives and symbols form significant emotions and stimulations both personally and communally. They become part of the language of a people. African indigenous religions contain narratives and symbols that when these interact with the Christian story and vision they become enriched and can manifest a life-giving relationship with God’s reign. Traditionally, Christian missionaries have spoken of the translatability of the Christian gospel into an appropriate local cultural and religious embodiment. Such an embodiment would have to respect the integrity of each tradition taking into account their personal and communal stories. These stories are captured in song, music, dance, folklore, art, proverbs, and so on. Cultural symbols like national flags, wholeness. According to theologian Augustine Musopole, ‘uMunthu Theology is an inculturational theology of liberation situated and developed within the Malawi culture and primarily for Malawi’. See Augustine Musopole, ‘uMunthu Theology: Human Liberation in Jesus’, The Lamp, Nov. 2002, Montfort Missionaries Balaka, Malawi. For an in-depth analysis of this theology, see Gerard Chigana, uMunthu Theology (Balaka, Malawi: Montfort Media, 2002). See also Augustine Musopole, Being Human in Africa: Toward an African Christian Anthropology (New York: Peter Lang, 1994).

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coins, emblems, special commemorative events, customs and rituals become significant means of reaching the heart of the life-force within every community. These symbols among others shape personal and communal identity. Religious symbolisation reflected in worship practices, rituals of prayer, scriptures, dogmas, and so on, form the spiritual consciousness of a community in its desire for connection to a deeper and more fulfilling reality. Religious/theological interculturation envisions that the Gospel is present and active within the life-giving narratives and symbols that people invoke within their own contexts. What then needs translating? The translation of European cultural expressions of the universal Gospel should not be encouraged. The evangelising task is to observe and act on God’s universal Gospel embodied diversely and not just within the domain of Christian religious expression. The challenge or perhaps an opportunity for Christian representatives is to affirm the presence and activity of this Gospel named in a different way among various cultural and religious traditions. Such a task involves listening to the stories of people; their experiences of life, their struggles with suffering, their reactions to illness, their management of death, and their hopes for the future. For Christians, the task is inexorably bound up with the life-giving interpretation of their significant symbols such as Jesus Christ. The realm of Ancestorhood for African religious traditionalists becomes the crucible in which the whole of life and death is experienced. These diverse and significant symbols play a crucial role in assisting a particular faith community to transcend their human reality. They become major sources of liberation for communities. Liberating symbols have the capacity to point beyond themselves (current experienced reality) to another reality or a greater level of awareness (transcendent reality) when a creative imagination is invoked in the theological and religious encounter. Dorothy Lee in relation to the symbol of divine fatherhood in the Christian tradition suggests that Symbols, like metaphors and similes (which are their linguistic manifestation), bear within them the transcendent reality to which they point. They are deeply enmeshed in human experience; they contain cognitive content; and they are

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vehicles for transcendence rather than mere signposts on the way. At the same time, symbolism by its very nature is elusive and nonspecific, giving rise, like texts themselves, to a surplus of meaning. The same multivalence means that symbols do not attempt to capture essence in a definitive way, but, like icons, they open windows on the eternal.43

We can only find comprehensible meaning and power for ourselves in the transcendent through the medium of an educational perspective that seeks to emancipate through symbolic gestures, language, content, and exemplary people found within the concrete human experience of historicity. To show that both narrative and symbol play a significant role in religious and theological interculturation is to observe it in action, particularly through art forms. For the Turkana of Kenya, this is especially a powerful medium to interculturate the Christian vision within the specific contours of their own traditional religious beliefs. Mural paintings created on the exterior and interior walls of Turkana schools and churches reflect the life, death and resurrection of Jesus within the locus of their cultural material. Such a medium becomes a striking feature for the appropriation of Christian faith. The Turkana have discovered a way in which they express, on their own cultural and religious terms, the essence of the Christian vision for them. Art assists in the interpretation of the symbolic nature of the Christian story. Symbols that are critically reflected upon in various cultures can be a means of association and common-ground for people in their respective contexts. The subsequent chapters of this book in many ways illustrate different approaches in which symbols mediate truth and shape a course for human freedom. In sum, this chapter outlined the movement toward an interculturation that is mindful of the reciprocity and mutuality of the theological, religious, and anthropological quest for life-giving meaning within every culture and religious perspective. The new consciousness that Vatican II initiated for the world led to the discovery of the concept of inculturation. This development created the foundation for understanding the notion of interculturation which, I suggest, better 43

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See Dorothy Ann Lee, ‘The Symbol of Divine Fatherhood’, Semeia (Winter, 1999), 177ff.

serves the purpose of theology and Christian evangelisation. Theological and religious interculturation needs interpretative language, life-giving symbols and meaningful metaphors to understand and affirm the universality of every contextual particularity. The following chapter treats the encounter of Jesus with two different women; the Samaritan woman at the well in John’s gospel and the Syrophoenician woman in the synoptic tradition of Matthew and Mark. These narratives provide biblical and theological support for a liberative interculturation toward the inner human freedom of all.

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Chapter Three Biblical and Theological Supports for a Liberative Interculturation

Introduction But the hour will come – in fact it is here already – when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth: that is the kind of worshipper the Father wants. God is spirit, and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth. – Jesus Christ (Jn.4:23–24)

Religious and theological interculturation has many biblical models. I have chosen two from the New Testament. The intercultural and interreligious dynamic between Jesus and the Samaritan woman (Jn.4:1– 42) suggests an interdependent interculturality. Jesus’ rather testy exchange with the Syrophoenician woman in the Synoptic Gospels (Mk. 7:24–30, Mt.15:21–28) points out that intercultural encounters are not all the same. These passages do, however, highlight the significant participative role women have as co-partners with God in liberating the world.1 The narratives reflect contrasting visions for encountering and managing ‘difference’. An intercultural and interreligious evangelisation is not without challenge, confrontation, and perhaps some hostility. In the analysis, I look at how cultural and religious taboos are dismantled by the women and Jesus within two quite different conversations. Such conversational exchanges advance understanding, healing, human liberation, and a faith grounded in transcendence for all concerned. Con1

See Teresa Okure, ‘Women in the Bible’ in Virginia Fabella and Mercy Amba Oduyoye, eds., With Passion and Compassion: Third World Women Doing Theology: Reflections from the Women’s Commission of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1988), 47–59.

sequent upon this understanding, I suggest a liberative theology as an intercultural communicative praxis. Within an African context, this theology of liberation grounded in the particular informs the universality of human desire for freedom toward that which is transcendent: God.

A. The Encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (Jn.4:1–42) Engaging Diverse Cultural and Religious World views Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well depicts a biblical paradigm of religious interculturation that is both theological and anthropological. Diverse cultural and religious perspectives engage each other within a respectful conversation. This scriptural narrative offers a key insight into the process of interculturation which reinterprets and appropriates diverse cultural and religious experience for life-giving relationships. Many Christian evangelisers today engage diverse cultural and religious world views. They are confronted with a panorama of cultural and religious features different from their own. Some Christian missionaries discover perceived irreconcilable differences among religious dispositions that cultivate tensions and conflicts leading to intense suspicion and violence. One such example concerns the Christian people of Southern Sudan, who are resisting the imposition of the strict Islamic Sharia law.2 Other regional conflicts in Afghanistan, 2

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This is a religious war between the Muslim dominated north and the predominantly Christian south that has gone on for more than nineteen years. It is a particularly brutal religious civil war that continues in Sudan today. There are other such conflicts occurring in different parts of the world like in Israel, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Nigeria, Egypt, and Algeria, among others, and they seem to be gaining momentum around the world. At the core of these bitter conflicts are rigid and fundamentalist religious perspectives that are grounded

Iraq, Nigeria, Philippines, the Middle East, and Indonesia, to name a few, highlight the impact a religious perspective has on shaping the political futures of these societies. More recently, in the wake of the horrific tragedies of September 11th, 2001, religious attitudes are again under scrutiny. Such religious conflicts are not unlike those Jesus and the Samaritan woman faced in their time. The exchange between the woman and Jesus within the Samaria context demonstrates the necessity of finding common ground. Jesus’ conversation is focused on his need to pursue important issues relating to the promotion of boundless life for all. He promises a gift of eternal life which participates in a life-giving relationship with God.3 His goal for mutual understanding exists in the eschatological realities reflected in the image of water shared by all human beings, animals, and plants.4 Jesus’ intention, then, is to point out a mutual human concern such as the need for water and to evoke a shared human desire for lifegiving spirituality mediated through God’s universal spirit.5 This perspective is evidenced clearly in Jesus’ statement to the woman. Jesus asserts, ‘Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem’ (Jn.4:21). Later, Jesus suggests that the common ground is to be found in recognising God as spirit (Jn.4:24) which transcends historical, cultural, and religious boundaries.6 For Jesus, therefore, the true worshipper should

3

4 5

6

in theological absolutism. That is to say, fundamentalist views tend to believe that no valid truth lies outside their exclusive perspectives which are interpreted through the lens of their respective rationalised religions. Pope John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio, (Vatican, 1990), # 7, 21–31. See also Paul F. Knitter, Jesus and the Other Names: Christian Mission and Global Responsibility (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1996). Teresa Okure, The Johannine Approach to Mission: A Contextual Study of John 4: 1–42 (Tubingen, Germany: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1988), 118. Roger Haight proposes a Spirit christology that is gaining attention among Christians who are engaged in interreligious dialogue. See Haight, Jesus: The Symbol of God (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1999), 445–466. See Redemptoris Missio, # 28. See also Jacques Dupuis, Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism (Maryknoll, New York, 1997), 321. Okure, The Johannine Approach to Mission, 116.

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transcend religious boundaries and thus ‘worship in spirit and truth’ (Jn.4:24). The Samaritan culture, with its different religious perspective, is accepted and appreciated by Jesus. The culture provides a lens through which his message can be understood and appropriated. It is clear, though, that the particularity of its cultural material cannot compromise the message of God’s self-revelation given through Jesus, the Christ.7 The agent of God’s self-revelation, Jesus Christ, maintains his integrity and identity despite the change in cultural, religious, and historical locations. The key point is that Jesus’ message will be appropriated differently as it moves into diverse cultures and religious world views without compromising his unique role as the mediator. This is true in regard to identity issues from the point of view of other religions as well, including African Indigenous religions. From Jesus’ standpoint the emphasis is on God’s free universal gift of life that dissolves the tendency to hold cultures and religions as ends in themselves. The purpose of culture with a religious outlook is to draw people toward self and communal transcendence and into right relationship with God, the eternal source of life. This is a view of relationship that is manifested within the Judeo-Christian religion. However, the desire for ‘right relationship’ – the biblical notion of justice – can be a view that is embraced by many world religions that manifest and express this aspiration diversely. The circumstances surrounding intercultural contact varies and can influence the outcome of right relationships. The Circumstances for Intercultural Contact Jn.4:1–6 provides an introduction to the circumstances for Jesus’ dialogue with the Samaritan woman. These verses give some insight into what was going on in Jesus’ life that led him to Samaria. Apparently, there was some hostility with the Pharisees over Jesus baptising more people than John, even though it was Jesus’ disciples who baptised (Jn.4:1–2). Because of this hostility in Judea, Jesus left 7

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Teresa Okure, The Johannine Approach to Mission, 126.

that area and, in order to get to Galilee, had to cross the enemy territory of Samaria. Tired and weary from the journey, Jesus sat down by Jacob’s well situated near the town of Sychar. It was apparently noon and the day was probably hot (v.6). The importance of a well is significant here as it represents a central symbol for a drought ridden territory. It becomes a cultural symbol for understanding the evangelising methodology of Jesus in offering the woman water that will well up to eternal life within her (v.14). At the heart of this water imagery is life that is offered through the relationship between Jesus and the woman. This life-giving relationship can be compared to the bliss of water satisfying human thirst. This search for life is universal and is understood in a profound way through the symbol of water. In every human culture water is essential and this element becomes the contingency for the intercultural conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Dorothy Lee observes, What makes the image of water even more powerful a symbol in the narrative, however, and ties it so closely with the breaking down of barriers, is precisely its universal appeal. Regardless of the barriers that divide human beings (both within and between communities), water is a universal biological necessity and unites in a common human need.8

Because water is shared in common, it becomes the basis for Jesus to initiate a conversation that may lead to something else that is more significant than ordinary water. Initiating the Conversation The conversation begins with Jesus asking the Samaritan woman, who came to draw water, for a drink (v.7). As Jesus engages the woman in dialogue, her prejudices relating to hostile Jewish and Samaritan relations are immediately evoked. The ensuing conversation provides clues into the prevailing dispute between Samaritans and Jews. Jesus’ 8

Dorothy A. Lee, ‘The Story of the Woman at the Well: A Symbolic Reading (John 4: 1– 42)’, Australian Biblical Review, 41 (1993), 46.

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Jewish identity is made clear to him by the woman saying ‘You a Jew ask me a Samaritan for a drink’ (v.9). This dispute is deeply rooted in the cultural and religious perspectives of both communities dating back to the time the Jews returned from exile in 537 BCE.9 These returning Jews felt that the Samaritans, who remained in Judea during the exile in 721 BCE, mingled with foreigners and intermarried thus becoming apostate and corrupt.10 This polarization was symbolised in the disagreement over the centres of worship even though both groups believed in the same God. They shared the same history from the time of Abraham up to the time of the restoration of the Judean monarchy.11 Both communities embraced the Pentateuch and recognised the law of Moses.12 However, despite a history of animosity between these two cultures, the focus of the conversation at Jacob’s well is on the woman who tries to understand this incredible Jewish man asking her for a drink. Astonishingly, this man would claim to be the one to fulfil the law of Moses both for the Judeans and the Samaritans. Socialised in the Jewish and Samaritan ongoing conflict, the woman is very clear about Jesus’ concrete religious identity as a Jew whatever his claims are otherwise. Rather than focus on the woman’s perception of the animosity between Jews and Samaritans, Jesus tries to explain his identity as coming from God (v.10). His identity is connected to offering her the gift of living water. Jesus strategises to raise the conversation toward transcendent realities. However, the woman, whose comprehension of the world is on the literal and cor-

9

10 11 12

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See D. Moody Smith, Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: John (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1999), 112. Smith writes, ‘A gulf separates Jews and Samaritans. The alienation has its roots in the fact that large numbers of the Samaritans (the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel) were deported after the Assyrian conquest of 721 BCE.’ The Jews or Judeans suffered a similar fate when they were deported after the Babylonian conquest of 586 but some returned in 537 BCE to their former land of Judea. See D. Moody Smith, John, 112. According to D. Moody Smith, the Judean monarchy was not a part of the Samaritan future hope. See Smith, John, 117. See Edwin D. Freed, ‘Did John Write his Gospel Partly to win Samaritan Converts?’, Novum Testamentum, 12 3(1970), 246.

poreal levels misunderstands Jesus’ offer. ‘You have no bucket, sir’ (v.10), she replied.13 Throughout the dialogue, there are two platforms of meaning known as double entendre; one is an earthly, material understanding, the other relates to divine and eschatological affairs. The woman wonders if this man is greater than her ancestor Jacob who gave the Samaritans the well (v.12). In her doubt, the woman attempts to comprehend the identity of Jesus through her own religious ways of knowing that are deeply grounded in the ancestral inheritance of Jacob. She is limited in her understanding of Jesus’ message by the circumstances of her memory of Samaritan history and the context of that history. Grasping the fact that Jesus’ message could cross cultural and religious boundaries is difficult for the Samaritan woman. Transcending Cultural and Religious Particularities The issue of Jesus’ identity is important for the woman who cannot see beyond his Jewishness. This man could be an enemy trying to take advantage of her. The woman appropriately is suspicious of Jesus at first and wonders what is so great about what he is actually offering her. There is irony here in the dialogue relating to the understanding of thirst (v.14a).14 The woman thinks that what Jesus offers may be found in another well and she wants this water so that she will not have to draw water again. The woman misunderstands Jesus’ meaning of thirst and living water. From Jesus’ perspective, if the woman could understand who he really is, he would be able to give her this living water for her benefit (v.10). The promise of living water is connected to satisfying the needs of Jesus and the woman. Jesus initially asked the woman for a drink 13

14

See Dorothy A. Lee, ‘The Story of the Woman at the Well: A Symbolic Reading’, 36. Lee observes, ‘Misunderstanding is the main device which John uses to move from the literal to the symbolic meaning.’ For the role and meaning of irony in John’s Gospel, see Gail R. O’ Day, Revelation in the Fourth Gospel: Narrative and Theological Claim (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986), 11–31.

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indicating he needed water to satisfy his thirst. The whole dialogue revolves around mutual needs and the sharing of gifts. The woman can empower Jesus by offering him water for his thirst. The woman is empowered by Jesus’ respectful presence. Jesus is trying to inform the woman about his true identity and the nature of his mission.15 Interestingly, Jesus never tries to contradict the woman’s responses and questions, especially when she observes that Jesus has no bucket for this living water (v.13). The woman, in misunderstanding Jesus’ offer of ‘living water’, allows further opportunities for him to clarify his intentions. He has to find other ways of inviting the woman to have faith in his promise of eternal life, which transcends both his religious world view and that of the woman. In vv.13–14 Jesus tries to establish again the differences between this water in Jacob’s well and the water that he offers. Jesus shows that he has particular needs which the woman can fulfil for him. Jesus has a need to achieve his mission, be recognised by the woman as being a person of integrity, and be a person that she can trust. These needs of Jesus underline his deferential attitude toward the concerns of the woman. Jesus invariably remains engaged to make sincere connections with her and thus he continues the cordial conversation. The woman has ample opportunity to question and even object to Jesus’ proposal thus far. Once again, the woman misconstrues Jesus’ intention by requesting that he give her some of that water so that she would not have to come to the well again to draw water (v.15). The roles become reversed at this point in the interaction. The woman is now the one asking Jesus for a drink, which reflects a desire on her part for deeper meaning in the relationship. In v.7b, Jesus was the one asking for water and this focused on his physical discomfort indicating Jesus had a genuine need, which the woman addressed. Scripture scholar Teresa Okure observes that, ‘This reversal of roles thus serves as a prelude to bringing to the fore the true identity of Jesus.’16 Jesus’ mission and the mission of the Samaritan woman are dependent upon the mutual understanding and respect of the needs that both have to fulfil. 15 16

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Okure, The Johannine Approach to Mission, 101. Ibid., 107.

A Reciprocal Evangelising Strategy Given the Samaritan woman’s own evangelising approach with Jesus, v.16 indicates a change in Jesus’ missionary style. For Jesus to really get his message out he has to resort to more personal matters with the woman. He confronts the woman in more challenging terms. Jesus now moves to the level of prophecy as the method to reach a satisfactory conclusion regarding his identity and purpose. He wants the woman to be aware that he knows things about her private life. This intimate approach indicates that a deep trust is developing between Jesus and the woman. Such a profound trust in the relationship is evidenced through the interaction between Jesus and the woman. Jesus’ reverence for the dignity of the woman by not judging her sinfulness and the woman in turn granting permission for him to engage her in a personal manner indicate mutual respect. From vv.17–19 there is a discussion between Jesus and the woman over the man with whom she now lives. Jesus tactfully says to her ‘Go and call your husband and come back here’ (v.16). The high level of confidence that the woman has placed in Jesus is reflected in her reply to him, ‘I have no husband’ (v.18). In Jewish law, living with a man and not being married to him was immoral. According to the Mosaic tradition, it was an adulterous relationship deserving of death. But Jesus does not confront her immorality or make any demands on her. Rather, the moment of prophecy takes place in the midst of extraordinary responsibility and respect for the woman’s situation. Jesus was able to reveal that not only was she not married to this current man, she also had relationships with five other men in the past and ‘the one you have now is not your husband’ (v.18). I believe this was a pivotal moment for the fruition of the relationship between Jesus and the woman. The substance of the conversation does not deal with her immoral actions. Rather, the exchange of words between them indicates an attempt to get her to move beyond the limits of the tangible and focus on the theological and spiritual episode of Jesus’ extraordinary intuitive powers. According to Okure, ‘The theological issue in v.18, therefore, concerns Jesus’ revelation to the woman of the supernatural know-

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ledge which he himself possesses.’17 The stunning revelation of her past by this ‘stranger’ causes the woman to acknowledge that Jesus might be a prophet (v.19). Interestingly, the woman did not tell him to go and mind his own business. This suggests a woman of integrity and security in her own identity as a woman. She did not appear selfconscious, ashamed or weak in her relationship with Jesus. Jesus’ intention for the woman was for her to know who he is so that she, and others, may access eternal life symbolised as ‘living water’ within the person. The woman was free to accept this gift of life from God or reject it outright. She was carefully led to discover for herself and in her own way the identity of Jesus. Jesus, encouraged by the woman, discovered for himself the power of a personal and meaningful relationship. It was the level of intuitive prophecy, which connected with the woman’s personal life, which ultimately surfaced Jesus’ true identity for her. Thus, the water analogy, employed by Jesus to explain eternal life, could now be more fully comprehended in light of the woman’s personal lived experiences. This was the beginning of a new awareness that prompted the reconstruction of the religious imagination of the woman, of Jesus, and of his disciples. Transforming Religious Consciousness Verse 20 is a key turning point in the religious consciousness of the woman. Such a transformation for the woman is linked to the way she accesses her Mosaic religious tradition to understand who Jesus is for her. As stated previously, Samaritans only recognised the five books of the Pentateuch and rejected the prophetic books, but ‘the only prophet they recognised was the one who was to return (Deut.18:15– 18).’18 This prophet who would return was known as a Taheb and would come from the Samaritan people.19 The woman still saw Jesus 17 18 19

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Okure, The Johannine Approach to Mission, 111. Ibid., 114. See Edwin D. Freed, ‘Did John Write his Gospel partly to win Samaritan Converts?’, 250. Freed suggests that within Samaritanism the Taheb may not en-

as ultimately a Jew and as a Jewish prophet. Could he be the Taheb that was foretold by the Samaritan patrimony? If so, how was the place of worship to be resolved? This was a contentious issue for both Jews and Samaritans given their respective histories of suspicion of each other. 20 The Samaritans had a Temple on Mount Gerizim while the Jews worshipped at the Temple in Jerusalem. But Jesus skilfully moves around the tension and suggests in vv.21–24 that worship will not be on either mountain but that ‘true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth’ (v.23).The specific place of worship no longer matters for authentic relationship with God. Rather, what matters is that God is worshipped in spirit and truth as part of one’s life. The dialogue with the woman illustrates that God is seeking her and all people in order that they receive the gift of the Spirit which is like living water springing up in the person (v.24). Then in v.25 the woman wonders about a messiah coming, a Christ who will reveal everything. From her frame of reference, was she thinking that Christ was the same as what the Taheb represented?21 Jesus identifies himself as the Christ in v.26. Despite some controversy over the meaning of the Samaritan Taheb and Christ, vv.1–26 suggests that the encounter with the Samaritan woman is a meaningful and effective missionary endeavour.22 Okure contends that ‘An essential aspect of the missionary undertaking is the interaction between the one sent and his audience, especially since the sole purpose of this undertaking is to evoke from the audience a faith-response to the divine agent and his message.’23 This specific relationship has implications for Jesus and his other disciples as well as for the Samaritan people. Jesus’ relationship with the woman at the well has salvific-liberative consequences across cul-

20 21 22 23

tirely be lacking in nationalistic overtones. Citing Macdonald, he contends that he could be a priest following the style of Moses. Dorothy A. Lee, ‘The Story of the Woman at the Well: A Symbolic Reading’, 41. See Okure, The Johannine Approach to Mission, 121–125. For a detailed analysis of the missionary strategy of Jesus in vv.1–26, see Okure, The Johannine Approach to Mission, 79–131. Ibid., 185.

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tural and religious perspectives. This is significant for discovering the characteristics of God’s reign not only within Jesus’ own Judean culture and religious perspective but also for the whole world. Jesus’ intercultural engagement has revealed how future evangelisation might be envisaged for diverse cultures with a different religious horizon of meaning. Dismantling Cultural and Religious Taboos A significant reverberation of Jesus’ encounter with the woman for contemporary intercultural evangelisation is the subtle dissolving of dehumanising cultural and religious sanctions. Jesus’ conversation with the woman was interrupted when the male disciples returned (v. 26). Jesus’ disciples wonder why Jesus is talking to a woman and yet they do not ask him (v.27). I speculate that the male disciples were perhaps afraid to ask Jesus his reasons especially since talking with a woman was breaking certain cultural and religious precepts. These social and cultural taboos concerned gender association within the Judean religious tradition and Jesus was clearly illustrating his capacity to transcend them, thus liberating both men and women from this normative cultural tenet. Though the male disciples seem disturbed with Jesus’ crossing of boundaries, the woman is not so fixated.24 She seems to have a capacity to transcend these barriers because enough meaningful exchange has happened between her and Jesus. Also, she has already been living a life in opposition to the norms imposed by the dominant, normative forces of the culture and religious perspective. Such norms indicated that women within Judean culture were not respected in the 24

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See Dorothy A. Lee, The Symbolic Narratives of the Fourth Gospel: The Interplay of Form and Meaning (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994), 84. Lee notes that the Samaritan woman’s intention is centred on the communication of her insights to her townspeople. She observes that the woman has forgotten the divisions between her and Jesus. Lee writes, ‘Gone is all thought of the well and the barriers that divide Jew from Samaritan, male and female. Her fixation is now on Jesus and his revelation and the new life that opens before her.’

same way as men because of women’s menstruation. Menstruation was perceived as unclean in Jewish religious observances and rabbis, if they were to remain in a state of purity, could not speak in public with a woman.25 In contrast, within Samaria, women were viewed differently and the woman becoming a witness for her own people confirms this perspective.26 Because she enjoyed a level of respect within the Samaritan community because of her vulnerability, she was able to invite the people of the town to ‘come and see’ for themselves if Jesus indeed is the Christ that was expected (vv.28–30). In her excitement with hearing the claims of Jesus, she drops her water jar and runs back to the town to tell her people (v.28). Her passion in communicating her experience with Jesus was contagious. Curiosity was aroused among her own people in the town who must come and see for themselves. There was a lesson here for Jesus’ male disciples from Judea who viewed gender and race according to their own limited cultural and religious perspective. Jesus’ missionary encounter among the Samaritans transcended strict religious barriers and demonstrated that the sharing of faith was universal. Such a stance gives rise to new interpretations for the ecumenicity and globalisation of Jesus’ message grounded in the particularity of his Judean faith and culture (v.22). Collegiality for Faith Sharing The woman’s specific relationship with Jesus is the link to reaching others in proclaiming the truth about Jesus as the Christ. Jesus and the woman are the primary evangelisers in this paradigm of evangel25

26

See Robert Gordon Maccini, ‘A Reassessment of the Woman at the Well in John 4 in Light of the Samaritan Context’, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 53 (1994) 35–46. Maccini contends that ‘The Samaritans undoubtedly observed the Pentateuchal codes concerning ritual uncleanness, as they did all Pentateuchal laws, but there is no reason to suppose that their observance was identical with that of Jewish rabbis’ (40). See Stephen D. Moore, ‘Are There Impurities in the Living Water that the Johannine Jesus Dispenses? Deconstruction, Feminism, and the Samaritan Woman’, Biblical Interpretation, 1 2(1993), 210.

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isation. Both the Samaritan woman and Jesus take the initiative in outlining how mission is effected. While Jesus’ own male disciples focus on earthly food (v.33), Jesus outlines the meaning of God’s mission which includes himself and the role of the disciples in vv.34–38. Jesus’ male disciples apparently missed the key role women missionaries would play in God’s mission of offering the gift of eternal life to all. Meanwhile, some Samaritans had already believed in him on the strength of the woman’s testimony (v.39). The woman’s personal story was essential for nurturing faith among her own people. Jesus, in v.40, engages these Samaritans in a conversation and many came to believe in him after listening to him (v.41). One wonders what may have transpired in this conversation to elicit such a following from the Samaritan town? I imagine the conversation took a similar course as that with the woman whose public testimony attracted them to come to Jesus initially. There is a public act of confession in v.42 that focuses on Jesus being the ‘saviour of the world.’ Such a public confession in the presence of Jesus depicts that the primary evangelisers of the town are Jesus and the woman.27 The role of the woman as disciple and witness 27

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There is disagreement among scholars concerning the significance of the woman’s role in evangelising the Samaritans. My view is that the missionary task in this instance is shared equally between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Both play a crucial role in sharing God’s gift of life among the Samaritans. For a different view, see Andreas J. Kostenberger, The Missions of Jesus and the Disciples: according to the Fourth Gospel with Implications for the Fourth Gospel’s Purpose and Mission of the Contemporary Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1999), 140–141. Kostenberger posits that John’s Gospel in its entirety presents Jesus as ‘the eschatological shepherd-teacher’ and thus ‘provides a unifying element within the framework of the Gospel narrative, encompassing the gathering of Jesus’ disciples as well as the disciple’s gathering of fruit for Jesus’ (140). Teresa Okure believes that Jesus is the primary evangeliser and that the role of the disciples is to attend to the mission of Jesus who was sent by God. See Okure, The Johannine Approach to Mission, 163. For an analysis of the deconstruction of the narrative, see Stephen D. Moore, ‘Are There Impurities in the Living Water That the Johannine Jesus Dispenses? Deconstruction, Feminism, and the Samaritan Woman’, Biblical Interpretation, 1 2(1993), 207–227. Robert Gordon Maccini contends that ‘To cast the Samaritan woman as Johannine disciple, apostle, or missionary is to read a great deal more into her words and deeds than the text can bear.’ See

is to bring others to faith in Jesus. Her role seems to diminish once the people have confessed publicly and witnessed personally to Jesus. Presumably, these people will go out and give testimony to Jesus and share in the role of discipleship by bringing others to faith. Gathering the harvest includes the ability of the harvesters to go beyond their cultural and religious particularities in order to be faithful to the mission of God revealed in and to Jesus. Crossing Borders The transcending of religion and culture emerges in the way Jesus converses with the Samaritan woman. The process entails first, that there is acknowledgment of personal needs. Second, there is irony in the conversation which captured the difficulty of interculturality. Third, the misunderstandings challenged Jesus to speak more clearly. Finally, the interpretation of local culture and the respect for the woman’s religious experience enhanced Jesus’ message. Many Samaritans came to proclaim Jesus as the Saviour of the world through their personal experience of Jesus ‘as the universal Messiah whose saving mission transcends Jewish national boundaries bolstered by sociocultic practices (vv.9,20,22).’28 Salvation may come from the Jews, but it moves beyond this historical particularity into a diverse and pluralistic world.29 It does not even end with the Samaritans. Both

28 29

Robert Gordon Maccini, Her Testimony is True: Women as Witnesses according to John (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996), 144. Okure, The Johannine Approach to Mission, 176. For a discussion on faith and belief within a multireligious experience, see Raimon Panikkar, The Intra-Religious Dialogue, revised ed. (New York and Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1999), 41–59. For a perspective on how the message of Jesus Christ has universal significance, see Jacques Dupuis, Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism, 280–329. Dupuis argues for ‘a Trinitarian Christological perspective for the recognition of the ongoing presence and activity of the Word of God and of the Spirit of God’ (281–282). Such a perspective, he claims, ‘makes it possible to affirm a plurality of ways or paths to human liberation/salvation, in accordance with God’s design for humankind in Jesus Christ; it also opens the way for recognizing other saving figures in human history’ (282).

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non-believers (vv.1–26) and believers (vv.27–42) in Jesus are evangelised through missionary activity that is life-giving and dialogical, and creates lasting fraternity among all who participate in the mission. The woman becomes the catalyst for Jesus’ faith transformation within her own culture and religious world view and now is able to be an agent of evangelisation for her local community. I argue that the missionary is a representation of both Jesus and the Samaritan woman. They are equal partners in the mission to Samaria. All who are authentic disciples of Jesus are missionaries to the world and are called upon to transcend cultures and religions by their witness to God’s gospel reflected in the equality and interconnected nature of their relationships. Faith Grounded in Transcendence In the woman’s struggle with believing that Jesus is the Messiah, we, as observers, are drawn into the narrative to discern our own faith positions and become disciples who share in the mission with Jesus. As Lee observes, ‘The struggle to move through misunderstanding to understanding thus becomes the reader’s own faith-story.’30 Jesus and the woman teach others through their dialogue and example the need for mutual love and respect in the missionary act of witnessing to God’s gift of life through various religious practices and social actions (see Figure 2, p.107). Jesus discovered ‘common ground’ not with worshipping in Jerusalem or Gerizim but in the suggestion that ‘true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth’ (v.23). Worship of God in spirit and truth depicts a shift toward a Spirit soteriology which moves beyond, but does not exclude, the specificity of God’s saving action in the historical christo-centric paradigm.31 Such a move has conse30 31

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Dorothy A. Lee, The Symbolic Narratives of the Fourth Gospel, 47. See Roger Haight, Jesus: Symbol of God. Haight argues from the viewpoint of the Trinity, that ‘the point of the doctrine of the trinity is that God is absolutely and uniquely one, that God’s saving action in Jesus and the Spirit are real, and that therefore God as such is a saving God’ (489).

quences for an interculturation that collaborates for cultural and religious transcendence. As we will see in the following section, a different paradigm of partnership for cultural and religious transcendence arises in relation to the Syrophoenician woman in Mark and Matthew’s gospel accounts.

B. The Syrophoenician Woman Transforms Jesus (Mk.7:24–30; Mt.15:21–28) Engaging Religious and Gender Diversity Religious sentiment fuels many political conflicts around the world. Religion sometimes becomes a lightning rod for violence, hate, and death. Instead of religion being a source of life and harmony for communities, it becomes a thorn of division. In the preceding section the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan echoed a sense that differences could be overcome fairly easily between diverse religions. However, in the encounter between Jesus and the Syrophoenician, there is much more tension, suspicion, and hostility involved. The conversation becomes downright offensive and it looks like the encounter with a diverse culture and religious experience could be destined to fail. Having temporarily broken off his ministry in Galilee, Jesus crossed into the region of Tyre. He wants no one to know he is staying in a particular house (Mk.7:24). There must have been some Jewish people living around the city of Tyre for Jesus to be able to go there in the first place. A Syrophoenician woman who happens to hear about Jesus in the vicinity shatters this secret visit of Jesus. She calls out to him in public to heal her sick daughter. Right away, the woman has crossed boundaries. Interestingly and in contrast to Samaria, it is not Jesus who engages publicly an unfamiliar culture but the woman. The Syrophoenician takes the initiative in an intercultural and interreli-

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gious process that will lead to the breakdown of the alleged irreconcilable differences between them. In many ways, this is an extraordinary story about the way in which Jesus becomes transformed in the encounter with a ‘Gentile’ or ‘Pagan’, Syrophoenician woman. Not only is Jesus’ Jewish religious tradition challenged, but the patriarchical structure surrounding Jesus’ own religious tradition is called into question. Jesus, as ‘Saviour of the world’ will be redefined in this encounter as will the significance of an inclusive non-gendered God. Not only is Jesus forced to overcome his cultural and religious bias, he is also confronted with a gender boundary that challenges embedded assumptions regarding women and their faith experience.32 The scene reflects for the world that crossing cultural and religious boundaries demands an internal capacity to engage complex issues. Various intercultural encounters involve a range of interpersonal circumstances which require a particular sensitivity in order to bring about mutual life and healing.

32

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See Daphne Hampson, Theology and Feminism, 148–175. Hampson discusses her views on the particular way the image of God has been conceived and shaped in the Christian tradition. She examines the ‘the projection of a masculinist construal of reality’ which has excluded feminine qualities from the shape of God. For a contrasting perspective, see Mary C. Grey, Prophecy and Mysticism: The Heart of the Postmodern Church (Edinburgh, Scotland: T&T Clark, 1997), 36. Grey asks an important question: ‘Could re-imaging God as the vulnerable source of relational power, and seeing the whole Christ-event as embodiment and incarnation of relational power in action, actually make a difference to the way we behave?’ See also Mary C. Grey, Redeeming the Dream: Feminism, Redemption and Christian Tradition (London, England: SPCK Publishing, 1989), 101. Grey discusses ‘the energy of mutuality’ which resonates with my proposed theology of interculturation.

Conversation Between Equal Partners

Mutual Vulnerability

Respect Cultural Context

Relational Trust

Lifestyle Hospitality

Faith Grounded in Transcendence

Expanding Cultural and Religious Identities

Transforming Spiritual Consciousness

Transcending Cultural and Religious Boundaries

Dismantles Dehumanising Cultural and Religious Taboos

Liberation For Human Freedom Toward God

Figure 2: Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan Woman (Jn.4:1– 42)

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Circumstances for Intercultural Contact Intercultural contact varies from context to context no matter what the circumstances. Civilisations meet each other and are influenced for good or bad through violent conflicts, political arrangements, friendship talks, trade networks, social encounters, humanitarian disasters, and so on. The circumstances surrounding Jesus’ encounter with the woman from Tyre seem innocuous enough. Apparently, Jesus left Gennesaret where he had been teaching the people regarding aspects of his mission which challenged the Pharisees’ sense of power and privilege. According to Matthew, Jesus ‘withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon’ (Mt.15:21). This withdrawing from Galilee could be indicative of Jesus wanting a deserved rest. Encountering opposition from the Pharisees may have taken an emotional toll on Jesus. The cultural circumstances of the woman indicate she is nonJewish. This can be determined in the way Jesus speaks with the woman. For Jesus to refer to her offensively as a dog reflects that there is a huge cultural and religious gap between their civilisations. In Jesus’ response to the woman, the affirmation of Jewish people as ‘children’ contrasts with non-Jewish Gentiles who are called ‘dogs.’ The circumstances surrounding the conflict between Jesus and the Syrophoenican are made quite clear. The analogy of children used by Jesus reflects that human dignity belongs to the established Jewish cultural and religious order. These chosen people are the privileged insiders of the Jewish religious world view. The metaphor of dogs, on the other hand, used by Jesus to describe the woman shows that nonJews have no innate dignity and are perceived as animals with little worth. So, when Jesus describes the woman in such terms, he has essentially dehumanised her and it is difficult to perceive how he is the ‘saviour of the world’ to foreigners. Being described as ‘a pagan’, (Mk.7:26) the Syrophoenician woman was probably a Hellenist Greek and spoke the Greek language. She may also have belonged to the upper class in Tyre because, according to Judith Gundry-Volf, ‘Hellenization had had the greatest

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impact among the upper class.’33 This meant that she had no direct traditional link with Judaism in the way the Samaritan woman shared a common heritage. It is ironic that it is this Syrophoenician woman, who came from a completely different political and economic background than Jesus, provides the way for overcoming cultural and religious animosity symbolised in this encounter. Though the episode is laden with a long history of suspicion between Jews and Gentiles, the meeting of these two strangers creates a new dynamic for personal and communal transformation. Gundry-Volf points out in her article that, ‘there was a history of economic and political oppression of Jews by the cities of Tyre and Sidon. The Galilean back-country and rural regions around Tyre, where Jewish farmers could be found, produced most of the food for the city-dwellers.’34 This situation was a longstanding bone of contention for the two communities. In times of shortage the city dwellers had enough wealth to buy and store food, while the peasant Galileans experienced persistent hardships. Such a provocation may explain why Jesus, a Jew, might keep his distance and desire secrecy. Jesus’ hostility toward the woman only reinforces this status quo. Gerd Theissen observes Jesus’ rejection of the woman expresses a bitterness that had built up within the relationships between Jews and Gentiles in the border regions between Tyre and Galilee. The first tellers and hearers of this story would have been familiar with the situation in this region, so that, on the basis of that familiarity, they would have felt Jesus’ sharp rejection of the woman seeking his help to be ‘true to life’.35

There was the serious threat anytime of political expansion from the cities of Tyre and Sidon into areas around Galilee.36 Such a fear would probably have been on Jesus’ mind and reinforce his desire not to be 33 34 35

36

See Judith Gundry-Volf, ‘Spirit, Mercy, and the Other’, Theology Today, 51 4(1995), 516. See Gundry-Volf, ‘Spirit, Mercy, and the Other’, 516. See Gerd Theissen, The Gospels in Context: Social and Political History in the Synoptic Tradition. Trans. Linda M. Mahoney (Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA: Fortress Press, 1991), 65. Gundry-Volf, ‘Spirit, Mercy, and the Other’, 517.

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recognised in Tyre. Though the woman must have been aware of these threats and dangers, she is courageous enough to come forward and take a considerable risk to initiate the conversation. Initiating the Conversation In contrast to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, the Syrophoenician woman initiates the conversation with Jesus when she cried ‘Sir, Son of David, have pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil’ (Mt.15:22). These are not words of threat but words of pleading for help from the Jewish stranger. Her request is for compassion upon her and her sick child and not to intimidate Jesus. Despite her privileged social status, this is a humble woman who has suffered much pain because of her daughter’s illness. In Matthew’s account when the woman begs Jesus to have pity on her, he ignores her completely by not saying a word (Mt.15:23). Jesus’ disciples have to urge him to respond to the woman’s plea. Jesus explains his reticence by replying with ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’ (Mt.15:24). Such a response indicates that Jesus had considerable difficulty moving beyond the confines of his own religious tradition. He must have thought that his ministry was primarily among his own people. Was Jesus thinking that true salvation only came from the Jews and therefore this foreign woman could not be saved? Whatever was on Jesus’ mind, courageously, the woman came up to Jesus and on her knees pleaded with him again. In Mark’s telling, there is no mention of the lost sheep of the house of Israel or of Jesus’ disciples having to plead with Jesus to actually respond to the woman. Instead, the woman hears about Jesus staying in a house. She had a little daughter with an unclean spirit and she fell at the feet of Jesus. Being labelled a ‘pagan’ meant this woman had no significant religion. Though the Syrophoenician showed clear evidence of faith, in Jewish circles this witness to her beliefs may not be accepted in the Jewish system of religious orthodoxy. Amazingly, despite being ignored and discounted as a non-person, the Syrophoenician woman

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perseveres to establish ground for relational equality and inclusiveness. Relational Equality The woman experiencing complete rejection is a basic characteristic of exclusivity. For her to be subjected to being compared to dogs sets the scene for total separation and dehumanisation. In such a reality why would anyone desire to have contact with this woman? Why did Jesus even want to go to Tyre? The relational equality in Jesus’ harsh words when he said ‘The children should be fed first, because it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs’ (Mk.7:27) leaves a lot to be desired. Interestingly, though Jesus was blunt and rude with his words to the woman, this did not deter her from making her special request for healing. Such violent words did not preclude her ability to approach Jesus and seek his compassion. Despite his inexplicable verbal outburst, Jesus did not refuse her request outright. He heals the woman’s daughter from a distance and shows that a miracle is possible outside Jewish circles. The woman’s persistence forced Jesus to acknowledge her as a person. She confronted him to make available his healing powers to non-Jewish believers. The woman transformed Jesus’ hardened attitudes toward her and her people. Though not explicit, by performing the healing act upon the woman’s daughter, Jesus not only respected the woman and restored her sense of personhood, he enhanced his own mission as well. Doing the healing from a distance is significant in that Jesus had placed a tremendous trust in the woman’s testimony, in her faith, and in her strength as a woman. Respect and Dignity On the surface, it is hard to reconcile how Jesus had initial respect for the Syrophoenician woman when he used the dog analogy. Dogs enjoyed little respect in the Jewish culture. Jesus had discriminated against her cultural background because she was not of the same eth111

nic culture and religious tradition. The conversation should have ended right there with this egregious insult to her personal dignity, but it did not. Instead, the conversation continues with the woman’s intuitive and perhaps witty response, ‘but the house-dogs under the table can eat the children’s scraps’ (Mk.7:28). Incredibly, Jesus is stopped in his tracks and has to take notice of this woman before him. The woman did not internalise the insult. Neither did she internalise the long festering conflict between their two very diverse cultures and religious traditions. Rather, a process of mutual respect developed between the Syrophoenician and Jesus because of her tenacious will, her sharp intelligence, her vulnerable disposition and her awesome faith. The Syrophoenician woman had an inner capacity to allow Jesus space to recover from his rash judgment and gain perspective. The ‘good news’ already present and active in the woman becomes a lightning rod for Jesus to be inspired to heal her daughter. Jesus, too, must have grown in his own faith through this reaction of the woman. The woman had tremendous insight into herself and her religious perspective in order to be empowered and teach Jesus something about himself. Jesus had become a student who had to learn about resolving his own embedded prejudice.37 She enabled him to move beyond the strictures of his religious tradition and experience the universality of the message he came to preach. The Faith Characteristic for Transformation The encounter with Jesus and the Syrophoenician reflects the universality of faith no matter how that faith is embodied in a specific religious tradition. The deep faith exhibited by the woman challenged Jesus’ own perceptions regarding his insular view of his mission. If there was a perception that only Jews could have the true faith, then this ‘foreign’ woman shattered such irrational thinking. The woman’s 37

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See Sabine Van Den Eynde, ‘When a Teacher Becomes a Student: The Challenge of the Syrophoenician Woman (Mark 7. 24–31)’, Theology, 103 814(2000), 274–279.

hellenised Greek social standing did not preclude her from engaging Jesus and transforming his indifferent attitude towards her. Jesus was empowered by the Sryophoenician to overcome his obvious religious and cultural bias against a non-Jewish person. With the help of the woman’s faith and her capacity to forgive Jesus for his offensive remark, she enabled him to heal her child. As Jesus moved beyond his Jewish boundaries, he became much more capable of ministering to those outside his own context. Jesus, inspired by the woman’s tenacity and humility, changed his attitude of indifference and performed a miracle. A brief but powerfully focused conversation changed both the life of the woman and of Jesus. Despite the overt hostility, evangelisation became a two way process between Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman. Jesus’ apparent aloof presence and personal indifference vanished through the integrity and transparency of the woman. A whole new consciousness for inclusive evangelisation ignites the imagination to transcend cultural and religious particularities (see figure 3, p.115). Overcoming Religious Exclusivity The Syrophoenician woman, immersed in a Greek religious world view with no connection to Judaism, gave impetus for an inclusive faith perspective. The Syrophoenician woman’s religious ‘paganism’ was not an impediment to receiving the healing necessary for her little daughter. Not only did the woman find her daughter healed of a demon, but another dangerous demon lurking in the shadows of cultural and religious exclusivity became also expelled.38 The prejudice of class, gender, ethnicity, culture and religion became exposed and dissolved in the encounter. The particularity of the woman’s context is surpassed by the gift of life mediated through the conversation between her and Jesus. Theissen notes

38

Theissen, Gospels in Context, 80

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The Syrophoenician woman accomplishes something that for us today seems at least as marvellous as the miracle itself: she takes a cynical image and ‘restructures’ it in such a way that it permits a new view of the situation and breaks through walls that divide people, walls that are strengthened by prejudice.39

After Jesus’ offensive remark, the woman replies ‘but even the housedogs under the table can eat the children’s scraps’ (Mk.7:28). In this way the Syrophoenican makes something clear to Jesus about his own limited cultural and religious context. Sabine Van Den Eynde asserts ‘in other words: she teaches. Jesus learns from her and he acknowledges the truth of her words.’40 Jesus’ response to the woman ‘For saying this you may go home happy’ (Mk.7:29) indicates that Jesus had appropriated an important lesson. Though it is not stated, it is probable that Jesus had moved significantly to overcome his own cultural and religious prejudice. At least the miracle performed indicates that in that moment Jesus had recognised something very significant about his life and ministry. The narrative provides a stark contrast to the process described between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Nevertheless, from a different perspective the Syrophoenician story illustrates a partnership of equals in mission. Though Jesus wants privacy within a culture different from his own, he nevertheless is forced to become public about his message. This teaches that intercultural encounters whereby fear and prejudice can preclude people from engaging those who are ‘other’ are not easy. However, the Syrophoenician enabled the intercultural engagement to enhance the universality of God’s gospel over and above the particularities of historical cultures and religions. This is a gospel that can be liberative no matter which geographical, political, economic or interpersonal circumstances are present. Yet, it is a gospel that could remain historically parochial if participants in cultures are stuck in their own particularity and religious self-interest.

39 40

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Ibid., 79–80. Sabine Van Den Eynde, ‘When a Teacher Becomes a Student’, 278.

Intentional Conversation

Partnership

Respect

Trust

Dignity

Faith Grounded in Transcendence

Expanding Cultural Transforming Spiritual Transcending and Religious Expectations (Paganism Cultural and Reand Jesus’ Faith Attitude) ligious Exclusivity Identities

Healing of Demons

Human Freedom Toward God Figure 3: The Syrophoenician Woman’s Transformation of Jesus (Mk.7:24–30; Mt.15:21–28)

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C. Liberative Theology as an Intercultural Communicative Praxis Informing Contemporary Interculturation The style of a Christian liberative evangelisation, perceived as an intercultural religious and faith activity, is deeply informed by the encounters between Jesus and these two women. The approach by these two self-determining women to Jesus sheds light upon how an intercultural religious/theological formation could be carried out in a religiously pluralistic and culturally diverse world. What transpired from the method of conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman was extended to the town and beyond by the woman manifesting ‘relevant aspects of the same method in her approach to the Samaritans’.41 In a contrasted light, the Syrophoenician woman illustrated through her deep personal faith that the healing mission of Jesus depends upon respect and collaboration. She insists that the mission is not dependant upon an intellectual, cultural, and religious arrogance which ultimately excludes the other. Evangelising interculturation is a difficult and complex process. The intercultural missionary endeavour is underscored by the challenges Jesus and the women encountered with each other pertaining to their particular felt needs. The focus within these examples of mission is upon women missionaries and the quality of their discipleship. In the story of the Samaritan woman, Jesus’ male disciples were so caught up with the corporeal and logistical matters of the world, such as social gender roles, that they failed to appreciate what was evolving before them. As a result, they misunderstood the real food (Jn.4:34). The women are not so self-absorbed with protecting their status. Even though it took two days of persuasive conversation before the Samaritans ventured a personal confession of Jesus (Jn.4:42), it required a relatively short time for the Samaritans to become believers. This is indicative of a genuine conversation and an intimate friendship 41

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Okure, The Johannine Approach to Mission, 18.

that become key components for developing a life-giving relationship with God. In relation to the Syrophoenician encounter, though the conversation is much shorter and more intense, there is faith and healing even if the woman is not a Jew. Therefore, the focus of mission is not upon exclusive claims to religious and cultural truths. Rather, the mission is contingent upon collegiality, equal partnership and interdependence42 for the Gospel vision to be relevant and meaningful universally. Contemporary Christian missionaries anywhere are challenged by these selected biblical narratives to embody the paradigm of partnership in God’s mission. Learning from these exchanges between Jesus and the Syrophoenician and Samaritan women, missionaries are called upon to affirm the deep faith already present and active within diverse religious world views. Realities of trust and mutual respect are not achieved within cultural and religious isolation that breeds exclusiveness and fear. The interpersonal strategy is reliant upon the role and personal disposition of strangers, in this case Jesus, the Samaritan woman and the Syrophoenician woman. These participants emanate from different cultures and religious experiences and they interact with diversity and pluralism to bring about change. Both the Samaritan and Syrophoenician women and Jesus help each other to transform not only themselves but their own cultural and religious world view also became turned into something new. Not only was Jesus’ own religious perspective transformed within the Samaritan culture; it was also dramatically altered through the encounter with the Syrophoenician woman. Intercultural interpretation and appropriation was reciprocated. Therefore, the discovery of truth about God and us occurs within the dynamic of interpersonal relation42

See Dorothy Ramodibe, ‘Women and Men Building Together the Church in Africa’, in Virginia Fabella and Mercy Amba Oduyoye, eds., With Passion and Compassion: Third World Women Doing Theology, 14–21. Speaking of her experience of oppression as a woman in South Africa, Ramodibe summarizes her view by stating that ‘There can be no cooperation in building the church while women are still being oppressed and exploited and treated as minors’ (20). She further suggests that feminist theology ‘will pave the way for mutuality, for full participation of women in building a new church and a new society’ (21).

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ships within cultures and religions. This network of relationships unveils the transcendent face of an intercultural God waiting to be known, valued and worshipped. This intercultural God has a universal spirit which transcends all particularities and embraces all unconditionally everywhere. It is in the social and historical contingency that God’s inclusive mission (Missio Dei) of life-giving relationship becomes articulated (see figures 4 and 5, pp.158 and 183). The Social/historical Contingency To understand and respond to the human need and desire for life, the starting point for a liberative theology of human freedom for a given civilisation is its social, religious, economic, political, and cultural traditions. As will be outlined later in chapter five in relation to the Turkana, the vision of who God is and how God lovingly saves in any cultural context influences and redefines the missionary’s consciousness. The cultural and religious context in which the missionary lives will undergo change as well. Jesus and both the Samaritan and Syrophoenician women, as missionaries offering the gift of life and healing to each other, were transformed in the midst of their conversations. For every society, its cultural and religious ‘truths’ become essential components in which meaningful communication of the Gospel message of eternal life can take place. Christian missionaries are privileged to share in this reality. Every historical reality requires explanation and concrete endeavours to eliminate life-restricting elements. Such an interpretative process requires cooperation between religious and cultural world views. For example, an African indigenous view of liberation in partnership with the Christian perspective of resurrection manifested in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ may shape a deeper and more inclusive liberative theological interculturation. Liberation for every cultural context means life-giving transformation both within the indigenous religious sensibility of a people and in the Christian missionaries’ perspective of who and whose they are in this cultural context. This is not unlike Jesus’ experience in Samaria and in the cities of Tyre and Sidon.

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Every civilisation has a history with a potential to both enslave and at the same time offer possibilities for authentic liberation. Its historical narrative provides avenues that restore harmony and equilibrium to the community. The same history can alienate some of its members as well as discriminate against others. Nevertheless, the import of reality encompassed in the varied social condition is the location where the Reign of God will be contrasted and actualised. The lived human experience is the reservoir through which genuine life-giving humanisation can take root and grow toward maturity through God’s blessing within the specific context. That is to say, it is through the processes of human meaning-making within the extended family of relationships43 that God’s gift of life can be discovered and through faith moved to new horizons of transformation. This is the process for humanisation toward God. Humanisation Toward God Humanisation is a process of self and communal discovery of who God is within us and how God liberates in our political, cultural, religious, and economic contexts.44 For Christians, this process can be viewed through the ideal that the Reign of God envisions within the mundane of history. Drawing on the imagery within the narrative of the Samaritan woman at the well, humanisation encompasses discovering God’s gift of eternal life as living water welling up inside every human being (Jn.4:14). This is achieved through life-giving and

43

44

See Maura Brown, SND, ed., The African Synod: Documents, Reflections, Perspectives (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1996), 89. The Synod proposed that African theologians in Africa elaborate the theology of the Church-as-Family with all the riches contained in this concept, showing its complementarity with other images of the Church (such as People of God). For this to happen, the Synod recommended small communal relations such as small Christian communities (see propositions 8 and 9). See Gaudium et Spes, # 40. The church as a religious institution ‘believes it can contribute much to humanizing the family of man and it history through each of its members and its community as a whole.’

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meaningful relationships within the sphere of daily lived human experiences. Within the arena of interdependent relationships, intercultural partnerships, and interreligious collaboration, God’s gift of everlasting life can be experienced as an existing reality.45 Many people around the world are made economically poor and their humanity ignored because of unjust relationships in economic strategies, political arrangements, and religious exclusivism. Many societies are being marginalised economically, politically, and culturally and this has meant and continues to mean poverty, disease, famine and death. While it is important to protect wildlife and plants from extinction in many parts of the world, millions of human beings around the world are not getting the attention that their status as persons with innate dignity deserves. This occurs because they are dehumanised: they are treated and viewed as non-persons and thus can be discarded. However, as we ascertain from the narrative of the encounter between Jesus and the woman at the well, the woman was considered an alien or non-person because of her gender and race. Jesus, too, was considered an alien for being a Judean Jew. Yet, both Jesus and the woman become humanised and their dignity as persons respected through their interconnected exchange. Humanisation became a possibility for both the Syrophoenician and Jesus in their encounter. Through the woman’s courageous faith, Jesus was empowered to go beyond his cultural and religious limitations in order to heal the woman’s little daughter. Similarly, for many marginalised people in the world, there is an urgent priority on the part of all human beings of goodwill to share their friendship as well as their material resources to support human flourishing everywhere. The prospect of hope generates a desire among suffering and disenfranchised people for a better future. 45

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To be a self, we need community. We need to interrelate meaningfully within an association of relationships. See Douglas Sturm, Solidarity and Suffering: Toward a Politics of Relationality (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998), 179. Sturm claims that ‘The dialectic of intersubjectivity and the principle of justice are congruent in their concern for the quality of relationships and therefore the forms of our associations with each other.’

Hoping for a Better Future The Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well and the Syrophoenician woman had expectations. They possessed genuine hope that the outcome would be life-giving for them. The Samaritan dreamed of a messiah that would bring clarity and understanding to her and her community. Her daughter’s possession by an evil demon inspired the Syrophoenician woman to have hope in this Jewish man from Galilee who held the secret for a cure. Both these women gave voice to their hopes. The Samaritan said ‘I know that a Messiah – that is – Christ is coming; and when he comes he will tell us everything’ (Jn.4:25). The Syrophoenician shouted ‘Son of David, have pity on me! My daughter is tormented by a devil’ (Mt.15:22). Jesus voiced his own hopes and expectations. To the Samaritan woman, Jesus says ‘If you only knew what God is offering’ (Jn.4:10). In contrast, maybe to test the woman’s faith or to outline the limits of his Jewish mission, Jesus expressed an expectation to the Syrophoenician with the response ‘The children should be fed first’ (Mk.7:27). In Matthew’ account, Jesus exclaims that he ‘was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel’ (Mt.15:24). Such an expectation would indicate Jesus’ ministry was primary among his own Jewish people. Gentiles, metaphorically referred to as dogs, were not included in this particular plan of liberation. However, through conversation this assumption was transformed and the exclusivity dissolved. The promise of abundant life, that includes various levels of healing and faith, depends upon a capacity for hope. This hope is grounded in human imaginations and emotions and yearns for that which does not yet exist. Gutiérrez, citing Ernst Bloch, suggests When that which is ‘not-yet-conscious’ becomes a conscious act, it is no longer a state of mind; it assumes a concrete utopic function, mobilising human action in history. Hope thus emerges as the key to human existence oriented towards the future, because it transforms the present.46

46

Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation, trans., eds. Sr. Caridad Inda and John Eagleson, revised edition with new introduction (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1988), 123.

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As with the women and Jesus, every person and society can have hope within their context through a process of life-giving intercultural and interreligious exchanges. From an African world view, these include, indigenous religious rituals in conjunction with Christian sacraments, Christian education in cooperation with traditional initiation, Western medicine in collaboration with local healing practices, and external economic development that incorporates native business exchanges. This plane of interaction can provide an opportunity for fostering and sustaining hope and dreams amidst a society’s specific suffering and oppression. People can construct a renewed history, religious perspective, and cultural meaning-making on the basis that something greater is possible through partnership. Human beings everywhere need empowerment to construct their reality in such a way that the Reign of God which is life, justice, peace, and reconciliation for all, is reflected. The Samaritan woman empowered her village to respond to her expectations for the future. She calls out ‘Come and see a man who has told me everything I ever did: I wonder if he is the Christ?’ (Jn.4:29). People came out of the town to see for themselves the foundation for her hope. Their own longing for a better future motivated them to follow the woman and meet this extraordinary man waiting for them at Jacob’s well. The Syrophoenician’s response to Jesus reflected a deep hope/faith that her request would be granted ‘but the house-dogs under the table can eat the children’s scraps’ (Mk.7:28). Thus, even Gentiles outside the privileged Jewish religious zone could experience God’s saving love. God’s presence and action can be observed and revisioned within the complex mass of historical consciousness. Every community has a unique history in which a contextual liberative theology emerges. This all encompassing history, which includes the community’s emotional and psychological struggle with adverse past events, forms the basis for a unique theology of liberation. From an African point of view, this is a level of lived human experience in which the people’s religious and cultural understandings, such as their belief in God, their respect for their ancestors, their initiation ceremonies, and their numerous animal sacrificial rituals, play a significant role in shaping a liberative theology. These aspects within an African context are what distinguishes this form of liberation theology from diverse liberative 122

theologies developing elsewhere around the world such as those found in South America and parts of Asia. Gustavo Gutiérrez contends that It is in the temple that we find God, but in a temple of living stones, of closely related persons, who together make history and fashion themselves. God is revealed in history, and it is likewise in history that persons encounter the Word made flesh. Christ is not a private individual; the bond which links him to all persons gives him a unique historical role. God’s temple is human history; the ‘sacred’ transcends the narrow limits of the places of worship.47

A realistic hope in the future must not be perceived as a mirage of false promises. The marginalised need to be affirmed in their dignity, their religious beliefs, and their customs. These are not to be disparaged and considered inferior but are to be affirmed and constructively critiqued to reveal the gift of life. Hope is sustained when there is a horizon of meaning built upon present experience. Current experience is transformed to reflect new possibilities for the future without eliminating the integral identity of the persons within their culture and religious world view. Consequently, the ‘sacred’, as Gutiérrez mentions, can truly rise above the limits of culture and places of worship because the context is respected as a medium for carrying that which is of God. But the dignity of persons is also carried within cultures and places of worship. Such dignity can be embodied within cultural and religious structures which reflect practices that enhance and sustain the personhood of all. Therefore, cultural and religious transformation is at the core of liberation and the promotion of human dignity. The Dignity of People The intention of the liberation process within every historical context is to seek freedom from the oppressive components of that history. This entails focusing on providing liberating structures of friendship. Matteo Ricci in the sixteenth century saw the importance of friendship which will be explored in chapter four. Liberation needs to be reflec47

Ibid., 115.

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ted in evangelising activities such as Church based projects, religious rituals, and spiritual formation. It includes working toward political, economic, and cultural arrangements that promote and sustain the dignity of all. There must be a reversal of the oppression that the colonisation legacy imparted to the African peoples. Such a history mediated God as a stranger and an outsider. As Jean-Marc Ela points out in an African context, The God proclaimed to the African human being in the precise context of the colonial situation is a God who is a stranger to the times, indifferent to political, social, economic, and cultural occurrences, having no prospect of involvement such as would necessarily be implied in the Promise. At most, the God of the Christian churches in the times of colonisation commanded adaptation and submission to the existing order of things.48

To avoid introducing a strange and domesticating God to African people, it is essential to develop a liberative theology that evokes the compassion of a relational God, a God who is in constant loving relationship with all people everywhere. This is a God whose intention is the fullness of life with justice as right relationship for all. Compassion was an essential ingredient reflected in the exchanges between the Samaritan and Syrophoenician women and Jesus. Compassion Jesus showed compassion to the Samaritan and Syrophoenician women. In turn, the women in their own ways had compassion for Jesus who seemed misguided and perhaps downright arrogant in his initial responses to them. In a sense, liberation may be viewed as discovering for ourselves through meaningful conversation authentic insights into an unconditionally loving and compassionate God. Undergirding this compassion is justice for all which is experienced as a lived reality through the construction of a fresh history that has as its goal the promotion of integral human life. Like the women and Jesus, it calls upon our ability not to judge the failure of others, but to see in them 48

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Jean-Marc Elà, African Cry, 31.

the potential for new possibilities for interdependent, life-giving relationship. Through the blessing of God, human history reflects the grandeur of God and it should be viewed as a conduit of God’s salvific presence. Encompassed in living within a specific location are such realities as vulnerability and suffering that mediate possibilities for new life.49 God’s offer of life, given through Jesus the Christ, transcends human suffering when reflected upon theologically as ‘gift’ toward becoming fully human. The offer of life in the Samaritan story and the gift of healing in the Syrophoenician passage informs the structure of a theology of liberation for human freedom. Within the cosmology of any society, a theology of liberation that is heavily influenced by a dominant culture needs to understand and respect the potential and significant contributions that native people offer toward their own human development and transformation. Such needed influences from a so-called dominant culture should not reflect cultural arrogance, exploitation, and superiority. Rather, these signs of hope can be integrated into the social fabric without desecrating the self-esteem of any community already assaulted by abject poverty, disease, discrimination, and so forth. From an African standpoint, an example where a community experience an opportunity to express their humanity, their joy, and their hopes is in the celebration of Christian liturgy that incorporates the deep meaning arrangements of their own traditional religions. However, this forum, too, needs careful attention to discover suitable life-giving symbols that name and critique the community’s present situation and arouse hope for an improved future. I suggest that liturgy, in all its forms, can

49

See Sturm, Solidarity and Suffering, 203–205. Sturm reflects that we ‘cannot understand the world unless we understand the world’s suffering. And, given the depth of immediate experience, we cannot understand the world’s suffering unless we understand it as, in some sense, our suffering.’ This is the foundation for the meaning of compassion that connects us to locations and contexts beyond our own. The personal and social emotion that compassion is can enable us everywhere to attend to matters of justice for those who suffer. Thus, we realise that our liberation toward human freedom depends upon the freedom of everyone in every part of the world.

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offer a concrete manifestation of liberation which is meaningful and life-giving. Concrete Manifestation of Liberation within Liturgy Liturgy in all its aspects can be a concrete symbolic means to save and liberate people from their bondage. The Samaritan woman and Jesus discovered that authentic worship was not specifically in a concrete place but was conducted in spirit and truth. Liturgy should not become a symbol to further incarcerate participants within a dehumanising dependency or compound and exacerbate their hopelessness through its insensitive choice of cultural material. Water imagery was used within the exchange between the Samaritan woman and Jesus as a medium to lead into conversation regarding transcendent realities. Water was an element shared in common. Both Jesus and the Samaritan woman knew the importance of water for quenching thirst in the desert. Similarly, food is an essential shared human necessity. For the liturgy of Eucharist particularly, food is used as a symbol that enables personal and communal transcendence toward God through a relationship with Jesus Christ. However, unlike water, food is a diverse element and the question of whose food should be used in order to symbolise everlasting life for the community is contentious. The symbolic expression of the meal component within the Eucharist is crucial to conveying God as liberator and giver of the gift of life. The meal is at the heart of communal activity for every African community and the use of local food such as chipatis and Ugali50 when available, along with the ‘universal’ eucharistic elements (hosts and wine) has deepened the community’s experience of God as living

50

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Experimentation using local foods is necessary for the Eucharist to enable the celebration have deep roots in a local history. The ‘universal’ elements of bread and wine connect the celebration to a wider reality. In a sense, these ‘global’ symbols cannot fully enter into a local human experience unless they are accompanied with elements of food that truly reflect life and meaning for a particular people.

among them.51 These explorations with food foster a meaningful, concretised, and cohesive bond that strengthens society, shapes its consciousness, and promotes conditions for lived faith within the believing community. Since bread and wine can be construed as luxuries within the paradigm of abject poverty for some societies, the use of ‘local’ produce, no matter how scarce, allows people their dignity as well as genuine participation in God’s desire to liberate them.52 A liberative theology is challenged to attend carefully to the celebration of not just the Eucharist but also to interculturate all the sacraments in such a fashion that their symbolism actually manifests prospects for abundant or eternal life. For example, in the story of the Syrophoenician woman healing was a central feature of the encounter. A liberative theology within any society should focus on the healing aspect of the Gospel vision and, particularly in the African religious world view, this characteristic plays a crucial part within indigenous religious ceremonies. Care is necessary within the configuration of a liberative theology to provide life-giving nurture to people’s existence in history. Liberation should not be experienced as deforming people’s character, imposing a foreign theological structure, or oppressing particular strands of society. Rather, a liberative theology, in its role as a shaper of culture,53 needs to reflect the possibility of genuine human freedom that reflects dignity within the current history. For example, the role of divination and the inclusion of the ancestors within an African indigenous religion can enhance the search for human freedom and shape the expression of the Gospel. 51

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53

Much more experimentation is needed with the celebration of the Eucharist, especially with the use of meat and the blood of animals. These are core elements used in traditional rites. See Lumbala, Celebrating Jesus Christ in Africa, 50–57. Lumbala outlines historical, theological and economic arguments for celebrating the Eucharist in an African context that is tied to the specific desire for authentic liberation of African peoples. See Kathryn Tanner, Theories of Culture: A New Agenda For Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997), 63–86. In relation to Christian theology as part of culture, Tanner asserts ‘To say that Christian theology is part of culture is to say that theology itself is a cultural production; theology is something shaped by concrete social practices’ (67).

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The Role of Divination and Ancestors for Liberation We saw earlier that the Samaritan woman expected a Taheb in her tradition to liberate them. This prophet would come as a mediator between Samaritans and God and tell the people everything; reveal to them the promise of eternal life in God. Thus, a new construct to sustain just relationships among themselves, their world, and God would emerge for the Samaritans. Similarly, in relation to Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman, a fresh consciousness emerged for both that emphasised Gospel inclusivity despite cultural and religious differences. An African indigenous religious world view plays a significant role in the liberation process of every human being in this historical context. For example, the good and respected diviner, surveyed in more detail later in the book, who exercises his function as a reconciler, healer, and liberator can symbolise for people in the here and now their desire for peace and reconciliation in solving their human problems. Thus, persons-in-community establish harmony among their relationships and become more integrated persons as a result of confronting the destructive forces in their midst. Laurenti Magesa posits that Divination provides a way of knowing these deeper realities, that is, the whys and wherefores of suffering, illness, anger, discord, floods, drought, poverty, barrenness, impotence, all kinds of loss, and death. To know the causes and reasons of these calamities is to name them; it is to give one power to eliminate or neutralize them. This is the power that enables one to achieve the purpose of being human: long life, good relations with other people, with the ancestral and other spirits, and with God.54

The close connection between the dead ancestors (the living dead) and those who are still living is important for constructing a liberative theology among sub-Saharan African peoples. Salvation which constitutes liberation within their own histories toward human freedom cannot be comprehended outside this world view. Therefore, within the celebration of Christian liturgies the ancestors are con54

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Laurenti Magesa, African Religion: The Moral Traditions of Abundant Life (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1997), 243.

stantly invoked as allies of God.55 They are the intercessors between the living and God. Because of the intense influence of the dead on the living, salvation is experienced as more immediate and tangible rather than something that happens in another elusive life in a ‘non-real’ world. This aspect of the African religious tradition resonates with the Christian notion of ‘communion of saints.’ Liberation can be experienced in different ways and all agents of the Gospel are called upon to be sensitive to its signs within every culture with a diverse religious outlook. In other words, the movement for human liberation consists of an equal partnership between diverse cultures and religious experience. In conclusion, the search for an appropriate biblical foundation for Christian evangelisation in a pluralistic and diverse world is challenging given the complexity of biblical interpretation. Nevertheless, I have proposed a perspective that could enrich other dominant paradigms such as mission as disciple-making in Matthew, mission as practising forgiveness and solidarity with the poor in Luke-Acts, or mission as proclaiming the Gospel in Mark and Paul.56 A partnership of equals paradigm embodied in the biblical stories of the Samaritan woman and the Syrophoenician woman provide a solid foundation for

55 56

See Lumbala, Celebrating Jesus Christ in Africa, 41–50. For more analysis, see Bosch, Transforming Mission, 56–178. Bosch outlines in detail paradigms for evangelisation in Matthew, Luke-Acts, and Paul. For an insight into the Johannine approach to mission, see Donald Senior, ‘The Johannine Theology of Mission’ in Donald Senior and Carroll Stuhlmueller, eds., The Biblical Foundations for Mission (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1983), 292. According to Donald Senior, ‘The Fourth Gospel is “universal” in character because it stands shoulder to shoulder with humanity’s perennial and pervasive quest for God. The longing for truth, for life, for the way, for light are among many symbols of the Gospel that are truly expressive of the universal human search for the transcendent.’ For biblical paradigms that have gone missing, see Philip H. Towner, ‘Paradigms Lost: Mission to the Kosmos in John and in David Bosch’s Biblical Models of Mission’, Evangelical Quarterly, 67 2(1995), 99–119.

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constructing a credible liberative intercultural theology for human freedom.57 The next chapter focuses on the life, the mission strategy, and the historical context of Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit missionary in the sixteenth century. Ricci epitomises for the world the significance of understanding the power of language and the culture that shapes it. Confined as Ricci and his friends were in their approach in China, they have provided an important insight for engaging with various religions and cultures within the non-Christian world.

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In relation to the Syrophoenican and Samaritan women in an inclusive discipleship of equals with Jesus, see Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, In Memory of Her (New York: Crossroad, 1994), 137–138.

Chapter Four Historical Seeds of Interculturation

Introduction We speak the native language of the country, have set ourselves to the study of their customs and laws and finally, what is of the highest importance, we have devoted ourselves day and night to the perusal of their literature. – Matteo Ricci1

I turn to Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) as a historical instance from which we can deepen our understanding and shape our perception for interculturation today. Having learned the Chinese language and studied the philosophy of Confucius, Ricci pioneered a method for engaging Chinese Confucianism that sowed seeds for contemporary interculturation. His paradigm became famously known as ‘accommodation’. Ricci’s strategy has implications for evangelisation generally and particularly for the agents of evangelisation worldwide amidst diverse cultural and religious world views such as the Turkana of Kenya. In this chapter, I explore the life of Matteo Ricci, a pioneer missionary among the Chinese. This exploration examines his model of accommodation, his early formation, and his missionary pursuit within the Chinese culture. I survey the social and ecclesial context in which Ricci evangelised that takes into account the so called age of discovery, the early attempts at planting the seeds for the process of accommodation, the counter reformation that shaped Ricci’s ministry, and Ricci’s catechetical text used among the Chinese literati. In the final segment of the chapter, an outline of Ricci’s missionary approach and method of engaging the Chinese people will be presented. The section 1

Matteo Ricci, ‘Concerning the Mission to China Undertaken by the Society of Jesus’, China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Matteo Ricci: 1583– 1610, trans. Louis Gallagher (New York: Random House: 1953), 5.

addresses the importance of respecting Chinese culture and religion, describes the content of Ricci’s accommodation paradigm, explores briefly the Chinese rites controversy, offers some critique of Ricci’s paradigm, suggests insights for contemporary interculturation, and ends with noting some implications for future evangelisation.

A. Matteo Ricci – Pioneer Missionary among the Chinese Accommodation Cultural accommodation2 was the method most favoured by Matteo Ricci who perceived value and truth within the political, intellectual, religious, and social behaviour of the people of China. This was a process of adaptation whereby aspects of the Chinese Confucian philosophy could be reconciled with Christian theological and philosophical categories. The Christian vision would have priority in this evangelising paradigm as the transmitting of only certain Christian elements into Confucian categories would not be as easily accepted by Christians. We will see this later in relation to the controversy regarding the validity of the Chinese rites. Nevertheless, such was the nature of Ricci’s personal enculturation into the Chinese traditions that the Chinese people found it difficult to identify him as originating from a European cultural context. Ricci had a great talent for making friends, especially through his scientific interests in astronomy, geography, and mathematics. His precocious intellect led to him to develop knowledge of maps and clocks that attracted the attention of the educated. By evoking the curiosity of the emperor in Peking with these scientific novelties, the emperor allowed him to develop a mission there. Ricci’s

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For a detailed account of the Jesuit mission of accommodation, see Gianni Criveller, Preaching Christ in Late Ming China: The Jesuits’ Presentation of Christ from Matteo Ricci to Giulio Aleni (Taipei, Taiwan: Ricci Institute for Chinese Studies, 1997), 4–42.

extraordinary memory also became a source of fascination and gave him access to influential people. Ricci’s missionary activities exemplified a paradigm shift in the way in which Christian faith could engage in a process of dialogue with Chinese culture and its religious world view. The process of dialogue aimed at discovering suitable life-giving ‘truths’ already present in the culture and faith system without compromising ‘truths’ present within Christianity. Ricci recognised that the common ground for a meaningful meeting of cultures was faith and the quest for meaning which he found evident within Confucian spirituality. However, he was not always consistent in his evaluations of other religious traditions, such as Buddhism, as I will discuss toward the end of the chapter. Nevertheless, as a consequence of Ricci’s engagement with Confucianism, the identity and expression of Confucian and Christian spiritualities and their respective faith assertions would be transformed. This became evident through Ricci’s approval and acceptance of the Confucian rites and his endorsement of honouring Chinese ancestors, particularly Confucius. The recognition of the profound cultural and social impact that these elements manifested for the Chinese people provided Ricci with the essential medium for Christian philosophy and theology to have relevant meaning and purpose for the people of China. Thus, the mutual exchange that Ricci initiated and carried through in his missionary strategy would anticipate transformation beyond toleration toward an empathic acceptance of Chinese enlightenment. Ricci illustrates that a dialogical process could be fruitful and avoid a colonising monologue. Could Ricci have evangelised differently? Was his method of cultural accommodation authentic religious interculturation as we understand it today? The answer to these questions is grounded in understanding his specific missionary context which we will see later in this chapter. Though Ricci’s approach is not interculturation as I define it in chapter one, his paradigm opened up a horizon of fresh possibilities for Christian evangelisation that are significant. Ricci’s research could have evolved into much more had not the official

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church curbed Ricci’s vision regarding the Chinese rites.3 In retrospect, I proffer the view that there were some shortcomings in Ricci’s methodology. For instance, Ricci’s harsh attitude toward Buddhism, Taoism, and Neo-Confucianism cannot be ignored for a contemporary consciousness of interculturation reflected through a pluralistic world view. Interculturation seeks to discover the seeds of the Gospel in every culture and religious perspective. Given that the context for interculturation is grounded in a particular and relative historical space, Ricci, a product of his time in history, should be credited for his tremendous insights into the church and the world. For Ricci, to even consider and initiate a process of dialogue and accommodation with other faith systems was radical and revolutionary for Christianity. Ricci’s early formation may have much to do with enabling him become a noteworthy missionary. Ricci’s Early Formation Born at Macerata, Italy in 1552, Matteo Ricci left home at sixteen to embark upon a career as an educator beginning in Rome at the German College. He was the eldest of eleven children. It was not until August 1571, five years after the death of St. Ignatius of Loyola, that Ricci entered the Society of Jesus. Apparently, his father did not approve of his son embarking upon such a vocation with an order so young in its development.4 Yet, this did not deter the ardent Ricci who committed his entire life to the Jesuit Order and to the people of China as a faithful missionary. The two most influential teachers during his formation were Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621) and Christopher Clavius (1538–1612). Bellarmine, who later became a cardinal and a canonised saint, was famous as a controversialist during the renewal of the church

3 4

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See George Minamiki, The Chinese Rites Controversy: From its beginning to Modern Times (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1985), 25ff. John Gallagher, Matteo Ricci: Apostle of China (London: Catholic Truth Society, 1980), 2.

around the time of the ‘counter-Reformation’.5 Ricci was attracted, as well as many others, to his lectures and sermons which never failed to inspire the fervent Ricci. Bellarmine entered the Jesuit order in 1560 and was a passionate defender of the Catholic faith. He was an eminent and influential theologian who attracted wide recognition from both Protestants and Catholics for his skills as a preacher and his work at organising and systematising the different controversies of the time.6 His greatest work De Controversiis is a compilation of his lectures which made an enormous impression throughout Europe. Bellarmine served on various papal commissions, advised different popes, and was involved with the early stages of the controversy surrounding Galileo’s heliocentric theory.7 Clavius had a great influence in transforming Ricci into a competent and noble mathematician and astronomer. Clavius, a friend of Galileo, was principally responsible for the development of the contemporary calendar.8 The skills received from these wise mentors perhaps launched and enabled Ricci to later cultivate lasting friendships with the literati and the politicians of China. The Chinese were especially captivated by Ricci’s skills as a scientist and mathematician. Consequently, they eventually allowed Western Christian philosophy and scientific discoveries to filter into the strictly controlled culture of China at the end of the Ming dynasty.9 Ricci was ordained a priest in 1580 after completing his studies in Italy, Portugal, and India. In 1582, he went from India to Macao to learn Chinese. Ricci excelled at learning languages due in part to his 5 6

7 8 9

Ibid., 2. See Sydney F. Smith, ‘St. Robert Francis Romulus Bellarmine’, in Kevin Knight, Online ed., The Catholic Encyclopaedia, Vol. II (Online edition, transcribed by Paul T. Crowley, 1999). Smith, ‘St Robert Francis Romulus Bellarmine’. Gallagher, Matteo Ricci, 2. The Ming dynasty was established around 1368 and ended approx. 1644. According to Witek ‘a brilliant renaissance of Chinese civilisation began as an antidote to the heavily controlled state under the preceding Yuan dynasty.’ See John D. Witek, ‘Understanding the Chinese: A Comparison of Matteo Ricci and the French Jesuit Mathematicians Sent by Louis XIV’, in Charles E. Ronan and Bonnie B.C. Oh, eds., East Meets West: The Jesuits in China 1582–1773 (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1988), 3.

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ability to memorise complicated language constructions. These personal attributes were significant in helping him gain an initial foothold in China among a distrustful civilisation led by powerful Chinese scholars and politicians. For Ricci, the success of the mission in China and elsewhere in the Far East hinged on winning the people’s trust and acceptance. Such a conviction was at the foundation of his missionary pursuit. Ricci’s Missionary Pursuit 1583 marks the year that Matteo Ricci began his missionary career in China. Ricci joined two other missionaries in the endeavour to evangelise China, Alessandro Valignano (1539–1606) and Michele Ruggeri (1543–1607). Ricci’s dream was to work his way towards establishing a Christian presence in Peking. By establishing a Christian base in Peking, where the Emperor and the influential people resided, Ricci and his companions thought they could secure the future prosperity of missionary activity throughout China. They perceived that if the Emperor could be converted to Christianity, then evangelisation in China would be more effective resulting in mass conversions to the Faith. By making friends along the way and eventually making contacts with the Emperor’s officials through gifts and friendly conversation, Ricci became a respected figure among the Chinese people. According to Hsing-San, in the Province of Guangdong, Ricci had developed an intimate relationship with an esteemed Confucian scholar, Qu Taisu, who introduced him to the mandarins and the scholarly Confucians in the area.10 By the time Ricci travelled to Peking, he was well informed about how to dress and conduct himself appropriately. Ricci’s first undertaking to arrive in the imperial city had failed because of war between China and Japan in Korea in 1595.11 In the meantime, Ricci stayed in Nanchang (1595–1598) and Nanking (1599 –1601) where he continued his writing and friendships with the aca10 11

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Shih Hsing-San, ‘Matteo Ricci, the Mediator between the West and China’, Lumen Vitae: International Review of Religious Education, 40 1(1985), 42. Ibid., 42.

demicians until he had an opportunity to travel again to Peking. In 1601 Ricci’s second attempt to reach Peking was successful. He spent the rest of his short life in Peking until his evangelising efforts ended with his death in 1610. Ricci never actually met the emperor in person, but he was received graciously by the imperial Court and offered good hospitality. It is reported that the emperor indicated a great interest in Ricci’s inventions and scientific discoveries. The emperor was particularly intrigued by a clock that Ricci brought to the imperial Palace. When the clock stopped Ricci was sent for to get it going again.12 Clearly, Ricci’s reputation as a scholar and scientist among the literati had preceded him and reached the ears of the imperial powers in Peking. Ricci’s map of the world was of great interest to Western explorers and merchants and to the Chinese who began to realise, like people in the West, that other worlds existed outside their own social and religious constructs. Ricci became convinced that the way to penetrate the Chinese culture most effectively was through Confucianism and not by way Buddhism or Taoism. Ricci discovered that Buddhist monks were not respected in China because they lacked an education and provided poor moral example to the Chinese people. Taoism was considered by Ricci to be unable to mediate salvation in God because God could not be reduced to nature or the Dao.13 Nevertheless, the Jesuits had come to China dressed as Buddhist monks thinking that this was an appropriate way to become respected by the people since Buddhist monks were well established in China at the time. Because of this Buddhist adaptation Ricci referred to himself as a ‘Bonze’ (Buddhist monk). This title eventually posed a difficult problem for Ricci, and while learning the Chinese language and studying the Chinese classics he 12 13

Gallagher, Matteo Ricci, 12. See Piero Corradini, ‘Christian presence in China’, in ‘Scholar from the West’: Giulio Aleni S.J. (1582–1649) and the Dialogue between Christianity and China, Tiziana Lippiello and Roman Malek, eds. (Brescia, Fondazione Civilta Bresciana and Sankt Augustin: The Monumenta Serica Institute, 1997), 41–44. Corradini states that for Ricci, ‘The Taoist ideal of following the course of nature was not appreciated by him because, as a Christian, he believed in the continuous struggle against evil, to achieve salvation in God. God is not nature, God is not dao’ (43).

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became conscious of particular contradictions that Buddhism reflected for him. He shed his Buddhist name and began to refer to himself as Li Matou (The Scholar). Thus, Ricci became a Confucian scholar and was enthralled with the way some aspects of original Confucian philosophy coalesced with the Christian world view.14 Ricci’s first book, written in Chinese circa 1595, was entitled Treatise on Friendship (Jiaoyou Lun).15 After studying and translating into Latin the Four Books of Confucianism,16 Ricci worked on a Book called The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven (Tianzhu Shiyi). This was a rewrite of Michele Ruggeri’s catechism.17 Ruggeri18 wrote the first catechism known as The True Record of the Lord of Heaven (Tianzhu Shilu) in Chinese. Ricci was ordered by Alessandro Valignano, the Jesuit superior in the region, to revise it to include more analysis of the Chinese classics.19 Therefore, Ricci’s approach to the manuscript was to have a dialogue between a Confucian scholar and a western scholar to highlight differences and similarities between them. We will see later that the purpose of the dialogue was to name the different realities within the Confucian and Christian way of life in order to find acceptable categories by which Confucianism could continue to exist and be accommodated into a Christian theological perspective. In many respects, Ricci’s innovative project not only challenged the ecclesial structures of his time, but his vision also impacted on Christian evangelising methodology for hundreds of years. Ricci resisted the tendency for uniformity within ecclesial structures and viewed diver14

15

16 17 18

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Ricci was more favourable to original Confucianism which claimed a transcendent God. He was sceptical of the Neo-Confucianism which later evolved and substituted this transcendent God for the philosophical principle of a ‘Supreme Ultimate’. For more information, see Gianni Criveller, Preaching Christ in Late Ming China: The Jesuits’ Presentation of Christ from Matteo Ricci to Giulio Aleni (Taipei, Taiwan: Ricci Institute for Chinese Studies, 1997), 37. These books were The Confucian Analects, The Book of Mencius, The Great Learning, and The Doctrine of the Mean. See Criveller, Preaching Christ in Late Ming China, 37. For more information on Michele Ruggeri, see Criveller, Preaching Christ in Late Ming China, 36. Ruggeri, along with Ricci, was credited with beginning the Jesuit Mission in China. They settled permanently in Zhaoqing in 1583. Ibid., 36.

sity as offering a significant contribution toward sharing and living the vision of the Gospel.

B. The Social and Ecclesial Context in which Ricci Evangelised Age of Discovery and Exploration This was the era of European exploration, discovery, and expansion overseas known as ‘The Age of Discovery’. In 1492 Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic and was the first European to explore the Bahamas. In 1497 Vasco da Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope, ‘struck out across the open ocean, and reached the west coast of the true India at Calicut.’20 These particular voyages, spearheaded by Spain and Portugal, marked the end of the so called Middle Ages period in Europe and ushered in a new age known as the Renaissance. This period of reawakening witnessed the ‘discovery’ of new geographical worlds that coincided with unprecedented scientific advances and technical progress in areas such as printing, art, mathematics, astronomy, and agricultural practices. With Spain and Portugal advancing the colonial endeavour, alternative trading routes were opening up. European cultures began to meet and engage cultures in other regions of the world that were unknown to the Europeans prior to this time. Countries like Spain and Portugal felt it was their inalienable divine right to colonise other apparently ‘unoccupied’ nations. Supported by the Christian religion, the popes gave support for voyages to these foreign lands. According to Joseph Sebes, The popes supported these voyages because in their origins they had been crusading ventures; further, they declared all the territories hitherto unoccupied by 20

Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1980), 140.

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Christian princes as the inviolable crown property of Portugal and Spain respectively and granted both trade monopoly in their areas.21

These foreign explorations brought the Roman Catholic church into a different era of evangelising consciousness.22 Such a consciousness was shrouded and embroiled in the enthrallment of exciting and challenging discoveries and scientific invention. This would provide the Roman Catholic church, as I discuss in a later section, with fresh motivation for evangelisation in the wake of the Protestant Reformation launched in 1517. Conversion to Roman Catholicism was a priority and the new age of exploration provided an opportunity for the church to strengthen its ranks. However, unaware of the future consequences that the new explorations in other regions of the world would have, the Roman Catholic church found itself endorsing conquests and playing the role of mediator between Spain and Portugal.23 The Catholic church found itself drawing imaginary lines in the Atlantic ocean demarcating what belonged to each country. Portugal and Spain as strong Catholic countries would later have to deal with others like the 21

22

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Joseph Sebes, ‘The Precursors of Ricci’, in Charles E. Ronan and Bonnie B.C. Oh, eds., East Meets West: The Jesuits in China, 1582–1773 (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1988), 19. See Bosch, Transforming Mission, 228. Bosch notes ‘The new word, “mission”, is historically linked indissolubly with the colonial era and with the idea of a magisterial commissioning. The term presupposes an established church in Europe which dispatched delegates to convert overseas peoples and was as such an attendant phenomenon of European expansion.’ Ibid., 227. Bosch suggests that the division of the world outside of Europe between Spain and Portugal ‘was based on the medieval assumption that the pope held supreme authority over the entire globe, including the pagan world.’ He further notes, in relation to the rulers of Spain and Portugal, ‘Here lies the origin of the right of patronage [...] according to which the rulers of the two countries had dominion over their colonies, not only politically, but also ecclesiastically.’ Concerning royal patronage, see also Massimo Marcocchi, ‘Missionary Elan of the 16th and 17th Centuries’, in ‘Scholar from the West’: Giulio Aleni S.J. (1582–1649) and the Dialogue between Christianity and China, 58–59. Marcocchi states, in relation to the popes assigning missionary activity to the monarchs of Spain and Portugal, ‘They legitimised the conquest of new lands by the Iberian monarchs who, in exchange, promised to spread the Gospel’ (58).

English, the French and the Dutch, etc. The exploration of the Pacific ocean would make further impact upon the social, religious, and political perspectives of European countries. It was the beginning of a unique, enduring epoch for the Catholic church’s spiritual and political influence upon conquered peoples.24 The late fifteenth century saw the beginning of an unparalleled colonial period that would not end until well into the twentieth century. This emerging period of colonisation was not centred on vulnerable countries in Europe but reached across uncharted oceans. Europe, prior to this time, had witnessed conquests, invasions, and numerous religious wars particularly against Muslims and Jews.25 In Spain and Portugal, Jews were persecuted and deported for practicing their Jewish faith.26 Such discord left Europe torn and divided politically, economically, socially, and religiously. However, the novelty for Europeans seeing diverse, unfamiliar cultures would take attention away from Europe’s own internal problems and conflicts, thus provid24

25

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For more details relating to the role the Catholic Church played during the early stages of the new Age of Discovery, see Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions, 141–142. See also Bosch, Transforming Mission, 227–228. Bosch posits that ‘Colonialism and mission, as a matter of course, were interdependent; the right to have colonies carried with it the duty to Christianize the colonized.’ Military crusades were legitimated by the Christian church against Muslims between 1095 and 1291. The purpose of these crusades was to free Palestine from Muslim control. See Marianne Sawicki, Gospel in History, 207. During these clashes not only did Muslims get slaughtered, but also Jews and Eastern rite Christians. For an overview of the pogroms against Jews, see Haim Beinart, ‘The Conversos and Their Fate’, in Elie Kedourie, ed., Spain and the Jews: The Sephardi Experience 1492 and After (London: Thames and Hudson, 1992), 92–122. Beinart explores the pogroms against Jews both in Spain and Portugal down the centuries giving rise to separate Spanish and Portuguese inquisitions. He notes that ‘The first goes from the mass conversion of 1391 to the expulsion from Spain in 1492, taking in also the violent and forced conversion in Portugal of the Jewish refugees from Spain, and that of Portuguese Jewry in 1497. The second period for both Spain and Portugal would end in 1580 when Portugal came under the Spanish crown during the reign of Philip II. During that period the Portuguese National Inquisition was founded. The third period lasted from 1580 to well into the eighteenth century’ (92–93).

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ing a fresh opportunity to rediscover for itself a common purpose, a sense of identity, a religious revival, and a taste for power and wealth. Emerging from this wave of colonisation was a lucrative slave trade to provide labour for industrial production within Europe and its colonies. There was a great need for cheap labour to develop stronger power bases for better trade and economic expansion. The emerging colonies provided a profitable source of natural wealth and ‘goods’ for European markets. European secular and religious networks of power conspired for absolute dominance within the colonies to maintain wealth, prestige, and religious superiority. The West, particularly the countries with advanced navigational technology, such as Spain and Portugal initially, were able to subjugate the new worlds and subsequently believed that all non-European cultures ‘discovered’ by them should conform to the various European ways of thinking and ways of being religious.27 Europeans thought they had superior knowledge of religion, science, mathematics, and astronomy. Their contact with the Chinese people changed this unilateral perception. Chinese philosophers caused western politicians to rethink and question their ‘superior’ cultural philosophy and provoked European missionaries to examine their theology. China, the geography, the culture, and the customs were enigmatic for many explorers and for missionaries who usually travelled with traders and merchants on expeditions. China, despite its isolation from the rest of the world, seemed to be capable of developing its own culture and society. It was not surprising that the Chinese people were suspicious of foreign interference. Europeans perceived that the country had a self-contained governing body of scholar-officials, a highly developed culture, and a political system in place that rivalled western Europe. Steeped within its own traditions for centuries, it held fast to what was known in the past. China prided itself on its collections of art and paintings that superseded anything 27

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See Bosch, Transforming Mission, 228. Since Spain and Portugal were given patronage of the colonies by the pope, they saw themselves as doing the work of the pope. Bosch states, ‘The rulers of Spain and Portugal soon regarded themselves not merely as representatives of the pope, but as immediate deputies of God.’

found in the Western world at that time. Printing methods were in advance of the techniques used in the West. According to Ricci’s diary, ‘The art of printing was practiced in China at a date somewhat earlier than that assigned to the beginning of printing in Europe, which was about 1405.’28 All these discoveries and developments for Europeans would have a profound influence on the evangelising role of the Catholic church in the world generally and China particularly. It would lead to developing strategies for accommodation. Planting the Seeds for Accommodation Cultural accommodation that sought the adjustment of differences between European Christianity and Chinese culture, with its Confucian religious world view, provided an essential connection to engage the enormous gap between the cultures of the East and the West. This endeavour, implemented by Ricci, would bring Chinese and European evolving civilisations into conversation and cooperation. For this to happen, missionaries had to acknowledge and respect other cultures, understand their local customs and practices, learn their languages, and ‘become an integral part of a particular civilisation and behave like the natives of the country.’29 The concept of accommodation was first envisaged by Francis Xavier (1506–1552) who evangelised earlier in Japan. Xavier had experienced a lot of problems in Japan and was frustrated with the general lack of collaboration from the Japanese government officials. In addition, he experienced difficulty in finding an appropriate name for God within the Japanese religious world view of Buddhism. Xavier invoked Dainichi which means ‘the great sun’ as being similar to the Christian notion of God. According to Sebes, ‘Dainichi does not even remotely approximate the Christian concept of God.’30 However, despite his poor judgment on this choice of name for God, Xavier 28 29 30

Ricci, China in The Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Matthew Ricci, 21. Sebes, ‘The Precursors of Ricci’, 23. Ibid., 23. Sebes notes that ‘the great sun’ is referred to in Mahayana Buddhism as the great Vairochana Buddha, the pantheistic deity of the Shingon sect.

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realised that for missionaries to be more effective, they needed to learn and adapt to the ways of the people. Xavier believed that by evangelising China he would have more success in Japan which always, according to Ricci, reverted to Chinese wisdom when pressed in an argument. Ricci wrote, While Xavier was working among the idol-worshippers of Japan, he observed that whenever they were hard pressed in an argument, they always had recourse to the authority of the Chinese. This was quite in keeping with the fact that they also deferred to the wisdom of the Chinese in questions pertaining to religious worship and in matters of public administration.31

Though he never reached China, Xavier set the foundation for Ricci and others to study Confucianism and Buddhism in order to be intellectually prepared for introducing Christianity not only into China but also into Japan. This preparation would have an enormous impact not only for the particular mission in China but it would also be crucial to evangelisation within Asia generally. Criveller observes, Xavier experimented with a methodology that would have a great influence on the future missions in the Far East. He stressed the necessity of the intellectual preparation of the missionaries, to be able to deal effectively with the Confucians and the Buddhists. He also advocated the need for scientific preparation as a means of attraction to the missionaries’ message.32

According to John D. Witek, a different method of evangelisation would not have been envisaged had it not been for Alessandro Valignano, who came to Macao on a visit to oversee the mission there.33 Witek posits that Valignano was ‘convinced that the Portuguese Jesuits in Macao were too Eurocentric and unwilling to try different approaches’.34 Because of this, Valignano called Michele 31 32 33 34

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Ricci, China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Matteo Ricci, 117. Gianni Criveller, Preaching Christ in Late Ming China, 35. Witek, ‘Understanding the Chinese’, 63. Ibid., 63. Concerning the controversy of ‘adaptation’ particularly in Japan, see Shinzo Kawamura, ‘On the Controversy of the “Adaptation” Method among the Jesuits in the Sixteenth-century Japanese Mission’ (STL thesis presented to Weston School of Theology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1993). This controversy revolved around whether Jesuits should wear the silk robes of the

Ruggieri, a Jesuit working in India, to come to Macao to familiarise himself with the Chinese language. Later, Matteo Ricci, who was also a missionary in India, was required by Valignano to come to Macao where they both were ‘ordered to learn how to read, write, and speak Chinese.’35 This suggests that Ricci did not come up with the idea of cultural accommodation all on his own. However, as he began living among the Chinese he enhanced and developed the accommodation policy ordered by his superior Valignano. This paradigm shift began to reflect new and far reaching possibilities for Christian evangelisation in the future. Ricci was attempting to overturn the proclivity of the church of his day to impose a uniformity of beliefs and practices that was mandated through the movement of the Counter Reformation. Counter Reformation The desire by some missionaries to adapt Christian faith to diverse cultural and religious perspectives came in the wake of unprecedented political and religious changes taking place within Europe. The sixteenth century was a period of great change and transformation within the Church as it came to terms with radical reform. Only thirtyfive years prior to Ricci’s birth, in 1517 Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, launched the Reformation movement within the Catholic Church. The Reformation had emerged in response to the crippling corruption experienced within the structure of the Church. Sawicki observes that, ‘The accumulation and mismanagement of wealth by the clergy was at the heart of the problem.’36 The Catholic church had become oppressive; money needed for the wellbeing of the economically poor was being siphoned off and redirected to ‘support a socially useless class of leisured clerics’ and to ‘purchase political

35 36

Buddhists in order to be respected as religious among the Japanese. Alessandro Valignano was supportive of wearing the Buddhist robes. A Portuguese Jesuit Francisco Cabral (1533–1609) preferred to wear the black cassock that the Jesuits usually wore and to live a life of poverty and humility in order to gain the respect of the Japanese. Ibid., 63. Sawicki, Gospel in History, 235.

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power through corrupt schemes.’37 Clerics became spiritual artisans marketing eternal salvation. They traded specific religious favours known as indulgences and received financial compensation. According to the covetous clerics, the faithful, by buying these indulgences, were assured of their eternal salvation in the next life. This state of affairs within the Catholic church was addressed during the Council of Trent which met intermittently between 1545 and 1563. The Council initiated many reforms, including significant efforts to counteract corrupt financial practices and advance the education of priests. Various popes during the latter part of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries ensured that the improvements promulgated by Trent would take effect.38 Consequently, the Catholic reformation known as the ‘Counter Reformation’ began to flourish during this era. There was a revival of the ministry of compassionate service initiated by people like Francis of Assisi, Dominic, and Ignatius of Loyola among others. Francis Xavier and Matteo Ricci as well as a host of other like-minded missionaries continued that fine tradition in their own times.39 While the age of European exploration brought great political, economic, social, and religious changes to the world, the Roman Catholic church found itself expanding and redefining its role as these shifts challenged its theology, its political influence, and its spirituality. For instance, the Protestant reformation aroused the Catholic church to assume a defensive posture, becoming obsessed with clericalism as its primary identity. Assent to official dogmas became the centre-piece for faith. With reformers like Martin Luther, the church began to rediscover the Bible. There was transformation in the ministries of service and in the celebration of the sacraments.40 With advancement in technology and travel, European Christianity was reaching people in far-away cultures. The printing press further enabled schol37 38 39 40

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Ibid., 235. Ibid., 236. Ibid., 236–238. Ibid., 241. Sawicki notes that service or, what she names as the practise of care for the poor, was ignored while the economic trading in sacraments diverted the primary attention of the church.

arly conversation and access to literature, especially the Bible.41 The catechism became the hallmark for catechetical instruction during this era and for many centuries later.42 World-wide missionary work began in earnest during the age of discovery. Missionaries, like Matteo Ricci and others, were confronted with learning new languages, translating the Gospel into native languages, and producing catechisms. There was much confusion among missionaries as to how the Gospel values could be developed among the newly discovered cultures. Some missionaries felt these cultures had to conform to European customs and religious practices, while others, such as Ricci, worked towards integrating the life-giving elements of culture that were compatible with the Christian worship of a monotheistic God. Such an approach they hoped would assure the success of the missionary church among the people of China while at the same time maintaining the integrity of the culture and indigenous ‘religious’ practices. Ricci, among others, believed that diverse cultures could be studied to discover in them structures of meaning to accommodate and adapt a Christian vision of the world. Since China was well known for its xenophobia and isolation from anything that was perceived foreign, Ricci and his companions were forced to seek alternative ways of infiltrating the Chinese consciousness. This was necessary prior to introducing a Christian vision of the Reign of God since this vision was then interpreted through a western imperialist culture. It is important to note that the Reign of God is not synonymous with Christianity but that the seeds of it already exist and are manifest in diverse cultures and religious perspectives.43 The seeds of God’s 41 42 43

Ibid., 242. Ibid., 250–253. See Vatican II Documents, Ad Gentes, # 11. For analysis of the origin of the phrase ‘seeds of the Word’, see Shorter, Toward A Theology of Inculturation, 75–76. Shorter outlines St Justin Martyr’s (died 165 AD) idea of the ‘Spermatic Logos’. According to Shorter, ‘Justin taught that the Spermatic Logos or seedbearing Word had been implanted in the heart of every human culture, since all things were created through him and with him’ (76). Ricci in the sixteenth century was recovering this idea within Confucianism, a concept that had been lost within the consciousness of the evangelising church because of the over-

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reign were being uncovered by Ricci among the Chinese within their Confucian philosophy. Confucian philosophy reflected Gospel values within the area of Confucian ethics. For Ricci and visionary missionaries like him, the church was confronted with the fact that different cultures and religious perspectives witnessed to truth in their own specific ways. Inculturation or, what I prefer to call interculturation, demanded a two way process of mutual respect and mutual critique in reciprocating spiritual, religious, and cultural ideas. Witek notes that, ‘it was only in the Age of Discovery, when missionaries accompanied traders and merchants to non-Western lands, that the Catholic church had to face the problem of inculturation.’44 As Witek further observes, the church, which perceived itself within a Eurocentric world as ‘good and civilised’ and identified foreign lands as ‘evil and superstitious’,45 was challenged to let go of such hypocritical judgments. New missiological methods were required to penetrate an already flourishing way of life and meaning system in China. This was the context in which Ricci and his companions would find themselves. Ricci knew that by having the Chinese language well mastered, he was in a better position to study and explore the Chinese classics for the understanding of Chinese thought and Chinese civilisation. As mentioned earlier, this intensive study would provide Ricci with insights for his celebrated work True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, published in 1603. Ricci’s dialogical method of evangelisation manifests itself in this writing which covers particular core themes pertaining to adapting elements of Confucianism to Christianity. The text gives credence and authenticity to the dynamics of Ricci’s accommodation strategy.

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whelming tide of colonisation. Vatican II revitalised this truth in the twentieth century in the document Ad Gentes. Witek, ‘Understanding the Chinese’, 64. Ibid., 64.

Ricci’s Catechetical Text Ricci’s The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven illustrates his attempt at a genuine dialogue between two religious world views. It is a conversation that examines the similarities and the differences between differing religious and cultural perspectives. For Ricci, the objective is to find common ground within the similarities in which conversion to the Christian perspective will be the ultimate consequence. The technique in the conversation is to persuade his opponent with better arguments and not impose upon the Confucian scholar beliefs he cannot accept. This could undermine the possibility for his conversion. This catechetical manuscript is referred to as a ‘pre-evangelical dialogue’ by its translators because there is no account given for elements of the faith classified as pure revelation, that is, God’s revelation in history.46 I do not agree with the translator’s categorisation since Ricci was initially attempting to find compatible terms that would explain the vision of Christianity. Ricci did see some ‘seeds of the Gospel’ within Confucianism and by dialoguing with his Confucian friend, he was in fact directly evangelising. My assertion is based upon perceiving evangelisation as an ongoing evolving process through which participants grow and mature in their understanding and living of ‘Christian’ faith already active in cultures and diverse religious world views. Diverse cultures with different religious perspectives do not need to be pre-evangelised in order to be ‘prepared’ to receive the Gospel or God’s reign among them. However, the translators commend Ricci’s astuteness in finding relevant contact points between Chinese and Christian concepts. They state that ‘It was a stroke of genius on his part to demonstrate in particular the compatibility of the traditional Chinese concepts of T’ien, “Heaven,” and Shang-ti, “Sovereign on High,” with the Christian concept of God.’47 This was Ricci’s most significant contribution to a 46

47

Matteo Ricci, The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, trans. Douglas Lancashire and Peter Hu Kuo-chen (Taipei, Taiwan: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1985), 24. Ibid., 52.

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meaningful Chinese-Christian dialogue. This is where Francis Xavier floundered in Japan attempting to appropriately find a suitable name for God that reflects Christian sensibilities. Such an effort by Ricci at a comprehensive dialogue to uncover a suitable concept for God demonstrates his integrity and attentiveness to culture and persons. Recognising in Confucian wisdom that human nature was good,48 Ricci was able to uncover within Chinese culture and ethics natural elements that would empower him to proceed with an authentic presentation of the Christian message.49 Using the backdrop of traditional ethics within Confucian China, Ricci was able to explain a Christian ethic. Ricci embraced a traditional Catholic view of the human being and found resonance within Confucianism for the Catholic ethical emphasis on ‘natural law.’ Such an ethical stance viewed the human person as innately good. It was a positive Catholic Christian anthropology50 that could be shared with the Confucian world view. Raguin observes that Ricci’s ‘Gospel message started from natural morality and retraced the whole course of the incarnation. In essence, this was Ricci’s method and way of proceeding.’51 Ricci emphasises, in his introduction, the need for doctrines to organise the world and the need for one Lord to govern humanity. Acknowledging that ‘The truth about the Lord of Heaven is already in the hearts of men (women)’,52 Ricci advocates that all people can come to know this reality and accordingly live moral lives within the concrete human situation. 48

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This reflects Ricci’s positive Catholic Christian anthropology. There are divergent opinions within the Protestant tradition that hold a negative anthropology. This anthropology views human nature as innately sinful. For Protestant reformists, speaking to the corruption already within the Catholic church during the sixteenth century, the only hope of doing the good is through the grace of God freely given in Jesus. Faith, which is free gift, can enable persons overcome a natural proclivity for evil. Yves Raguin, ‘An Example of Inculturation: Matteo Ricci’, Lumen Vitae: International Review of Religious Education, 40 1(1985), 25. For an analysis of this positive and optimistic anthropology, see Thomas H. Groome, Educating For Life: A Spiritual Vision For Every Teacher and Parent (Allen, Texas: Thomas More, 1998), 74–86. Ibid., 74. Ricci, True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, 61. I have inserted ‘women’ in brackets to make Ricci’s observation more gender-inclusive.

Keeping in mind that the Confucian sage had no knowledge of the tenets of Christianity, Ricci had to tailor the discussion around the specific questions asked from the Confucian perspective. Ricci was offering this conversational approach as a way in which the Confucian scholar might come to accept the faith and be baptised. Ricci’s pedagogy and method of religious instruction seem to resemble the pedagogical principles of Aquinas. Apparently, Ricci’s pedagogical style reiterates Aquinas’ contention that ‘Things known are in the knower according to the mode of the knower.’53 The translators of Ricci’s text alert us to the fact that ‘the Chinese had a particular antipathy towards such teaching as the suffering and death of God.’54 This was a glaring difference between the two religious world views. Ricci used care and sensitivity towards the Chinese culture and he accepted particular Confucian religious beliefs, such as honouring the dead, and used these cultural expressions to develop an appropriate Christian religious instruction. The dialogue contained in this catechetical text reflects the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises which promote the notion that God is in all things. The conversation throughout generally resonates a respectful dialectic, and is participative with a rich exchange of ideas regarding theological and human concerns. Ricci never looses sight of his objective and that is to persuade and not coerce his scholarly friend to accept the ‘truths’ of the Christian world view. However, there are disagreements between the scholars. For example, in the dialogue concerning spiritual beings and the human soul, Ricci refutes the claims of his Confucian opponent who asserts ‘The Buddha is not inferior to the Sovereign on High.’55 Ricci posits that ‘The Buddha failed to understand himself, so how could he understand the Lord of Heaven?’56 The discussion on God, Heaven, and Hell and on Ricci’s

53

54 55 56

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Q1, art. 2. Ricci’s methodology resonates as well with Paulo Freire’s modern dialogical approach and the ancient Socratic method of asking crucial questions. Ricci, True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, 23. Ibid., 207. Ibid., 209.

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views on human nature are particularly interesting and seem to be the foundation and purpose of the conversation. Ricci continually asserts that ‘Virtue is founded on self-cultivation, and its fulfilment on the service of the Sovereign on High.’57 He recognised that Confucianism contained an ethic of self-cultivation through its belief in the Sovereign on High. This notion of human fulfilment through a transcendent source (God), already existing within original Confucianism, resonated with Ricci’s concept of the Lord of Heaven that reflected a Christian view of God. Ricci becomes quite irritated by the suggestion of the Confucian scholar who is preparing for baptism and who suggests that the Sovereign on High should be equated to the service of the Chou dynasty or with the human mind. He contends that, ‘To say that the Sovereign on High, who was originally deserving of respectful service, is now on equal footing with ourselves is just too absurd and irrational for words!’58 Ricci emphasises that ‘the Lord of Heaven is creator of all things’ and, ‘anything manufactured by man is achieved through things already created by the Lord of Heaven.’59 Ricci sowed seeds for contemporary interculturation through a missionary strategy that sought common ground within Confucian philosophy. This common ground consisted of discovering an acceptable name for God, an ethical philosophy, and an appreciation of particular rites to honour Confucius and the Chinese ancestors. The whole approach caused Western missionaries to re-examine their theology and their roles as evangelisers within diverse cultures and religious world views. Ricci’s willingness to learn and study the Chinese language indicated to the Chinese people a man not only seriously interested and committed to their culture, but also to the promotion of this culture around the world. This was Ricci’s particular strategy for engaging the Chinese people.

57 58 59

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Ibid., 209. Ibid., 209. Ibid., 211.

C. Ricci’s Missionary Approach and Method of Engaging the Chinese People Respecting Chinese Culture and Religion By observing Chinese customs very carefully, Ricci was accepted into the Chinese way of life. Chinese customs are numerous and complicated, but Ricci demonstrated sufficient patience to win acceptance like no other foreigner. Ricci promoted the Chinese world view through his work and writings. These activities created a bridge between two imperial cultures; the West (Europe) and the East (Asia). His personal journals describe in great detail the structure of life within China: government administration, culture, religious rites, and science, etc. In these journals he noted the value the Chinese people assigned to respect, politeness, and decorum, etc. He recognised that the people had a particular devotion to the ancestors, parents, teachers, and all legitimate authority. Confucius was honoured in a similar fashion by the literati. The following is an example from Ricci’s journals that illustrates his meticulous observations and comparisons with his own European culture pertaining to food, its preparation, and its presentation. He writes, The Chinese eat about everything that we do, and their food is well prepared. They do not give much attention to any one particular kind of food that might be served, as their dinners are rated by the variety rather than by the kind of courses offered. At times the table will be covered with dishes of food, large and small. They observe no particular order for courses of fish and meat as we do, but serve them indiscriminately.60

Not only is Ricci sensitive to the culinary aspects of Chinese culture, he is specially attentive to their respect for the dead and how the deceased are mourned. He observes, It is a custom also, in imitation of their minor sacrifices to the idols, to burn pieces of paper or of white silk. By doing this they imagine that they are offer60

Ricci, China in the Sixteenth Century, 67.

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ing a robe to the departed in memory of his kindness and generosity. Their caskets can be rendered absolutely air-tight by sealing the seams with a certain kind of shiny pitch, and at times the Chinese have been known to keep the body of a parent in the house for three or four years. As long as the remains are kept they place food and drink before the coffin just as they might serve a living person, and during that time the children sit on low stools covered with white cloth rather than on regular chairs, and straw mats are placed upon the floor, beside the casket, to be used in place of bed.61

Though Ricci noted every detail of Chinese customs, he was sometimes irritated by the amount of time the people spent carrying out the prescriptions of their customs and rites. He is not hesitant to critique aspects of Chinese urbanity and politeness that he felt were too ostentatious. This attitude may be indicative of Ricci’s impatient Italian European cultural background. He contends, With them, respect and deference and consideration in business transactions constitute the foundation of urbanity. Indeed they make so much of urbane ceremonies that a great part of their time is wasted in them. To one acquainted with their customs, it really is a source of regret that they do not rid themselves of this external show, in which they far surpass all Europeans.62

Ricci’s personal cultural bias comes through in this statement which indicates that even though he has acquainted himself with the Chinese culture, he is continually evaluating the culture through the lens of his own European cultural experience.63 This demonstrates that all missionaries are challenged to contend with and integrate their own personal cultural and religious world views in order to make meaningful and valid judgments with regard to different cultures and religions. Nevertheless, this personal challenge for Ricci did not deflect him from immersing himself into the culture and becoming enculturated to its rhythm and expression. Throughout his evangelising efforts in 61 62 63

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Ibid., 73. Ibid., 59. Ricci evaluates Chinese architecture against European standards. He contends ‘Chinese architecture is in every way inferior to that of Europe with respect to the style and the durability of their buildings [...]. Whereas, Europeans in accordance with the urge of their civilisation seem to strive for the eternal.’ See Ricci, China in the Sixteenth Century, 19.

China, Ricci transcended his own European culture and crossed cultural and religious boundaries to share the universal values of the Gospel. Moreover, the literati continued to respect and honour Ricci as a great scholar whom they admired for his insights and his efforts to personally embrace their culture. The Content of Ricci’s Accommodation Paradigm From our discussion thus far, I contend that there are five essential qualities emanating from Ricci’s accommodation paradigm. They are friendship, lifestyle, translation of ideas, ethics, and acceptance of Confucian rites (see figure 4, p.158).64 Firstly, I mentioned earlier that friendship emerged as an essential ingredient for Ricci’s success as a missionary. Perhaps Ricci thought that once the emperor and the educated elite converted to Christianity then the whole population of China would follow the Christian way of life more easily. This strategy reminds us of the impact emperor Constantine’s conversion had on the population of the Roman Empire in the fourth century. Christianity became a state religion in 313 CE. The imperial establishment of Christianity ensured greater conversion to this religion throughout the length and breadth of Roman dominion.65 Ricci’s motive encompassed bringing gifts to the Chinese emperor and those who had influence around him in order to gain their attention and affection. Ricci’s famous map of the world that he first printed in

64

65

See also Gianni Criveller, Preaching Christ in Late Ming China, 38–39. The author offers a helpful summary of Ricci’s accommodation method. Scholars differ on the content of Ricci’s accommodation paradigm. Criveller cites J. Bettray who divides the paradigm ‘into six aspects: external, linguistic, aesthetic, social behavioral, intellectual, and religious’ (38). Joseph Sebes suggests there are four elements of accommodation, Lifestyle, Translations of ideas, Ethics, and Rites. See Sebes, ‘The Precursors of Ricci’, East Meets West, 42– 45. For a perspective on the legalisation of Christianity in the fourth century, see Marianne Sawicki, Gospel in History, 116.

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1584 evoked Chinese curiosity66 prior to inspiring the spiritual consciousness of the people for the Gospel. Secondly, the lifestyle of Ricci brought a special depth and authenticity to the policy of cultural accommodation. That is to say, by adapting himself to the local Chinese way of life, Ricci transcended some of his own European customs and practices. Ricci’s appraisal of Chinese culture played a significant role in his over all accommodation strategy. Ricci’s living as a Confucian scholar embodied a significant manifestation of appropriate acculturation into Chinese traditions and customs. By wearing the appropriate dress, attending to hair style, performing dignified gestures, and accepting and eating the local food Ricci indicated a profound respect for the people. Though it is evidenced in his journals that Ricci was irked by the amount of time spent performing many salutational gestures and ceremonial prostrations, he participated in them as a sign of reverence for the Chinese people. Thirdly, the ability to translate Confucian ideas and appropriate these ideas into his own life emerges from a profound knowledge of Chinese linguistics. This carried Ricci onto a different plateau with regards to Chinese philosophy and the cultural meaning system in which this philosophy finds expression. Ricci’s approach was different from previous evangelising methods that ignored the value and validity of diverse cultures and religious world views. Ricci was insistent, that in promoting the Christian world view in China, it should have a firm foundation within specific Chinese political, social, and religious categories. Such a promotion of the Christian vision had to be grounded in a respectful dialogue as can be gleaned from his catechetical exchange with his Confucian friend in The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven. Fourthly, the ethics of Confucian philosophy coincided with finding common ground. This happened with Ricci discovering that Confucianism coincided with the natural law ethics of Christianity. Seeking common ground was a conspicuous factor in Ricci’s ap66

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Gianni Criveller, Preaching Christ in Late Ming China, 37. Criveller notes that ‘In late 1584 Ricci printed the first edition of his famous world map, arousing the curiosity of many visitors.’

proach. According to Sebes, citing Ricci’s Treatise on Friendship, ‘Ricci equated the Christian concept of love with the Confucian concept of humaneness.’67 By doing this, could Ricci have been in effect Christianising Confucianism? Was he suggesting that the Christian world view would perfect Confucius’ claim that a person of humaneness had the capacity to love others?68 Finally, Ricci accepted the Confucian rites, particularly rites that honoured the ancestors. He allowed his Chinese converts to continue to honour their ancestors through sacred ritual and to maintain the performance of ceremonies to respect Confucius.69 He gave a Christian orientation to these rites in the sense that they had to conform to Christian practices and the Christian God. The worship of ancestors and honouring the dead coincided with Catholic piety of praying for the holy souls and remembering the dead, some of whom are especially honoured as saints. This was the most controversial aspect of Ricci’s missionary methodology and continued to create conflict for the church for more than three hundred years, ending in 1939.70 I believe that these elements of Ricci’s paradigm for engaging the Chinese people are worth highlighting as they indicate the significance of a missionary methodology that takes seriously cultural and religious differences. Each component of Ricci’s interaction with the Chinese indicates a way of respectfully acknowledging diverse meaning-making systems as well as illustrating the importance of transcending one’s own cultural and religious standpoint. However, the most contested aspect of Ricci’s missionary engagement lay in his acceptance of the Confucian rites. The official church’s questioning of and eventual dismissal of these rites, after Ricci’s death, may have substantially contributed to the failure of Christian mission in China. Consequent upon this understanding, the Christian world view was

67 68 69

70

Sebes, ‘The Precursors of Ricci’, 44. Ibid., 45. John Dragon Young, ‘Chinese Views on Rites and the Rites Controversy, 18th– 20th Centuries’, in D. E. Mungello, ed., The Chinese Rites Controversy: Its History and Meaning (San Francisco: The Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History, 1994), 92. Ibid., 106.

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unable to gain significant influence within the Chinese culture and its particular religious perspective.

CONFUCIAN RITES ACCEPTED COMMON GROUND (ETHICS)

TRANSLATION OF IDEAS

LIFESTYLE

FRIENDSHIP

Figure 4: Elements of Matteo Ricci’s Accommodation Strategy

The Chinese Rites Controversy The rites conflict revolved around whether or not the Confucian rites held some religious value. Debate emerged as well regarding the customs reflecting superstition. Should the rites be found superstitious, this would be in direct contradiction of Christian principles. George Minamiki asserts 158

To Ricci’s way of thinking, the ordinary rites performed in honour of Confucius did not contain any strictly religious implication and did not appear to involve any superstition. Fundamentally, they possessed a civil and social significance [...].71

Though Ricci did not make a distinction between a ‘religious’ and ‘civil’ rite in his writings,72 it is not clear whether he saw some religious value in the Confucian rites. On the one hand, if Ricci did see some religious meaning in the Chinese ceremonies, he could not risk this being known by his critics in Europe who could condemn him as a heretic. On the other hand, Ricci’s embracing the Confucian rites begs the question: could he have used them as a strategy to insert Christian meaning? John Dragon Young suggests ‘As far as Ricci was concerned, he had no choice but to embrace Confucian rites and ancestral worship – provided that they had no, in a Christian sense, religious significance.’73 Ricci’s method was acceptable for a while within missionary circles on the strength that they were a legitimate component of Chinese socialisation. Such a distinction points to the difference between Ricci’s cultural accommodation and contemporary religious interculturation. Drawing on the debate over the Chinese rites and its relevance for the twenty-first century, I contend that recognising and appreciating genuine truths within diverse religious meaning perspectives is necessary for reciprocal religious interculturation. However, I believe that for Ricci to assert that Confucian practices were part of the people’s socialisation and contained no religious import clearly placed Christianity in a greater role of dispensing salvation to the Chinese. Nevertheless, Christianity was welcomed and accepted by some of the Chinese. According to Sebes, ‘To forbid these rites would have made

71 72

73

See George Minamiki, The Chinese Rites Controversy from its Beginning to Modern Times, 20. Ibid., 20. Perhaps, the reason that there were no distinctions between religious and civil during Ricci’s historical period is indicative of a worldview that was whole or organic. Ricci’s journals indicate that categories such as religious versus superstitious were invoked. John Dragon Young, ‘Chinese View of Rites and the Rites Controversy, 18th– 20th Centuries’, 92.

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the conversion of China impossible from the outset.’74 There would be few conversions to Christianity in China had Ricci ignored the indigenous Chinese rituals for honouring their dead, their teachers, and their parents. The great teacher and ancestor Confucius was especially celebrated. Bowing and prostrating (kowtow) was their way of respecting someone exemplary within their community. The people were not seeking any riches, favours, or privileges through these actions. Simply, they were performing signs of gratitude and courtesy for gifts received through meaningful and life-giving relationships. These were not considered religious rites.75 Nevertheless, I would argue that they were deeply laden with religious sentiment without making gods out of their ancestors. In relation to respecting authority, particularly teachers, Ricci wrote in his journal, These people pay more respect to their teacher than we do, and if one man places himself under another for instruction, even for a day, he will call him master for the rest of his life. Not only that, but he will show the deference of a pupil to his master, by sitting beside him at any public gathering and by honoring him with the titles and the rites that are due to a magistrate.76

The Chinese rites controversy, which sought to distinguish what may be termed ‘religious’ from a ‘civil’ process of socialisation is an important one for Christian evangelisation situated within a plurality of religious world views. I have briefly analysed the issue at the core of the dispute to underscore the importance for reciprocity in deciding on criteria for evaluating the religious content of cultural claims. A mutual and reciprocal interculturation needs to uncover life-giving as well as destructive forces within every culture and religious perspective. Christian evangelisation in partnership with another religious or cultural world view is challenged to work out criteria for appraising cultural and religious claims to truth. The Gospel vision can be a lens by which a comprehensive assessment can emerge. Ricci’s acceptance of the Chinese rites has the potential to inform current interculturation endeavours among diverse cultures such as the Turkana of Kenya. I 74 75 76

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Sebes, ‘The Precursors of Ricci’, 46. Ibid., 46. Ricci, China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Matteo Ricci, 80.

claim that the Turkana initiation rites, animal sacrifice, and remembrance of their ancestors, and the worship of Akuj are religious and not merely processes for socialisation. Such aspects of their indigenous religious viewpoint can be interculturated into the Christian vision as will be seen in the next chapter. During Ricci’s time Christianity was embroiled within an age of European exploration and expansion that left a legacy of imperialism for many centuries. In critiquing the ability of Christianity to share Gospel values, the assumption was that there was only one culture in the world that was above all others. This was a European civilisation which extended its influence around the world. All other societies and religious viewpoints were marshalled into line with this one, uniform European culture. Ricci attempted through his approach to dissolve this European tendency for homogeneity. He abandoned the previous dominant methods of assimilation by which every diverse culture outside of the European culture had to digest a European frame of mind and religious practice. Even though Ricci proposed accommodation which called for the adaptation of Christianity into a diverse culture by using the elements of the culture, the method needs to be critiqued. This critique is necessary because of Ricci’s limited understanding of the capacity of different religious world views to mediate God’s intention, love, peace, forgiveness, justice, and so on, to the world. Critiquing Ricci Ricci’s pioneering efforts of perceiving Christianity as salvific and liberatory for the Chinese, by recognising and appreciating their Confucian culture, inform contemporary interculturation and religious education for liberation. Nevertheless, there were some flaws in his system. First, in recognising Ricci’s paradigm of cultural accommodation, one notes that he seemed to associate with and form relationships among the educated scholars of Chinese society. He was not so much interested in the ‘common’ Chinese man or woman’s position in the society. Contemporary religious education that actively interculturates Gospel values must relate to the ordinary ways of life

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within any culture. It is within the lived human experience that the Gospel can be known and appropriated. Second, Ricci concentrated on the every day lived experience of the privileged elite literati. Here, the Christian faith within the axiom and praxis of culture and diverse religious perspectives can dialogue toward a common vision of authentic salvation and liberation for all. This paradigm removes the interculturation debate from merely being an intellectual polemic among the bourgeoisie of various societies. Through a respectful dialogical interculturation rooted within the grassroots of culture at every level of society, that is, stories, myths, proverbs, sacrifices, rites of passage, ancestors, and local customs, etc., the vision of God’s reign can become known and accepted. Third, Ricci’s methodology was developed within by an imperialist consciousness which did not fully appreciate Chinese culture and its religious perspective as an equal partner. Nevertheless, his work in China is a useful model for gleaning some insights into contemporary interculturation endeavours which aim toward seeking appropriate ways for ‘making flesh’ God’s salvific intention for the world. Fourth, Ricci responded to the structures of government and culture that functioned during his time. In light of the thinking of the church at the time, it would seem that Ricci perceived the Christian vision as somehow superior to the Confucian vision. There is evidence that he did not want dialogue with other religions like Buddhism and Taoism. His understanding of Confucianism could be questioned because he did not support the Neo-Confucian claim of a ‘Supreme Ultimate’ or ‘Principle.’77 Ricci embraced the Confucian rites and ancestral worship provided these cultural aspects had no religious significance that would conflict with Christian perspectives on what is authentic religion.78 Therefore, could Ricci have discerned that only Christianity was religious and every other religious view be reduced to being a means of socialisation? 77

78

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Ricci, The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, 50. Ricci apparently held the belief that the original Confucianism was much more authentic than later interpretations which included categories of ‘Supreme Ultimate’ or ‘Principle’. See Young, ‘Chinese Views of Rites and the Rites Controversy, 18th–20th Centuries’, 92.

Nowadays, within contemporary Christian tradition, there is a different awareness among missionaries as regards different religions. There is a general recognition that religious imperialism was damaging and sinful because it failed to take into account God’s action in the world through diverse cultures and religious world views. Today, Catholic Christianity is making a concerted effort to dialogue with other faith traditions to find that God is communicating Godself within different contexts. For instance, the Catholic bishops of Africa held a special Synod in 1994 which reflected on ways in which local ecclesial communities could improve their understanding of faith development amidst the diversity of African cultures and indigenous religious world views.79 This shift of consciousness on the part of the official church has implications for Christian evangelisation everywhere. Implications for Evangelisation Despite the constraints of his strategy, Ricci’s accommodation method was focused on finding suitable elements from the Confucian religious perspective in which Christian categories could find expression. The intention of this approach was the conversion of the Chinese to Christianity. This was a priority as salvation at the time was perceived as the prerogative of Christians and no other religious system could be conduits of salvation. Given this critique and the fact that Ricci moved among the intelligentsia of his day, his model, nevertheless, initiates and informs a process for contemporary interculturation at least for and among the privileged. Accepting the circumstances of his time, 79

See Maura Browne, ed., The African Synod: Documents, Reflections, Perspectives (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1996), 96–99. The Synod in Proposition 30 emphasises that ‘inculturation is a demand of evangelisation’ (97). Though the term interculturation was not used, Proposition 36 highlights the important role the ancestors occupy in the various African cultures. The Synod recommended ‘that ancestor veneration, taking due precaution not to diminish true worship of God or to play down the role of the saints, should be permitted with ceremonies devised, authorized, and proposed by competent authorities in the church’ (99).

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Ricci’s ideology and methodology convey relevance for all cultures trying to appropriate and express Gospel vision for themselves. For instance, in regard to the evangelisation of the Turkana, it can be argued that the introduction of famine relief, schools, medical centres, and various other human development projects ‘caught’ the imagination of the people and provided a means to attract them to explore the Christian message. This is not unlike Ricci’s promotion of science and mathematics among the Chinese. The pertinent lesson drawn from Ricci is that within the conversational and dialectical framework that he developed in China, there is a sensitivity to explore helpful images which communicate and name God in human experience. Finding the appropriate image or concept within different religious traditions and cultures to mediate a truth is crucial to enable human consciousness, in a particular historical context, to appropriate God’s self-revelation. Ricci’s plan to evangelise the Chinese people never lost sight of the ultimate goal: the preaching of the Gospel for the transformation of the people and the society.80 To conclude this chapter, various aspects and interpretations of Ricci’s basic methodology such as sensitivity to language, culture, lifestyle, and hospitality, etc., can be invoked for the agenda of interculturation in any given civilisation. Though these aspects are necessary, I want to emphasise that Ricci was a cultured gentleman among other men of a high culture and he did not associate with the poorest of the poor. The way Franciscan missionaries evangelised in China after Ricci’s time may be another way of taking in the significance of interculturation among the poor, marginalised, and oppressed. For Franciscans, the way of Taoism reflected their missionary charism of seeing God in all of creation. Ricci was highly critical of this religion and saw no common ground with it and the Christian vision because he believed that persons were deprived within Taoism of a will to achieve good behaviour.81 80 81

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Sebes, ‘The Precursors of Ricci’, 42. See Corradini, ‘Christian Presence in China’, 43. Corradini notes, in relation to Ricci’s disapproval of Taoism, that ‘Deprived of the intention and will to achieve a good behavior, man may be compared, he says, to a tree, to a stone, to a metal, which are not endowed, by nature, of vices and of virtues.’

Though Ricci worked out an approach that worked well for elites, the question that remains is whether the much larger world of marginalised and oppressed need something different? In addition, within the contemporary climate of religious pluralism, questions of the truth and validity of diverse religious world views needs more attention within the heterogeneity of an ethical praxis. That is to say, the controversy surrounding the Chinese rites emphasises the issue of whether a people’s worshipping practices are religious or simply social. These practices raise the question whether or not they have a capacity to free people toward the transcendent. Raguin observes that, ‘Today, Matteo Ricci remains a model for us because he attempted to give a Christian meaning, or at least a Christian orientation, to rites elaborated in a non-Christian context.’82 It is imperative that as we educate religiously, our relationships with ‘different’ people must be grounded in friendship, trust, and respect within the multiplicity of cultures and religions. Ricci and his companions did not dismiss the Confucian religious tradition as being in error. Rather, they embraced the elements of the culture that were relevant to the meaning-making of a particular people. The challenge for effective religious education and interculturation today is to listen attentively to different cultural and religious perspectives. The next chapter explores the Turkana symbolic religious culture which offers another means of being-in-relationship that reflects manifestations of what Christians call the Gospel. This contemporary case study challenges Christian missionaries to research the deep formations of meaning within any religious culture for life-giving signs of the Reign of God. This is especially significant in the wake of the September 11th, 2001 tragedy and its continuing implications for the whole world. Though this book does not deal directly with Islam and Christianity, the principles invoked to uncover the unfathomable relationships for meaning and truth remain consistent for any religious tradition interacting with Christianity. There is a need for acceptance and an appreciation beyond tolerance for life-giving differences in all religions.

82

Raguin, ‘An Example of Inculturation: Matteo Ricci’, 35.

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Chapter Five The Cultural and Religious Context of the Turkana

Introduction The religious perspective differs from the common-sensical in that [...] it moves beyond the realities of everyday life to wider ones which correct and complete them, and its defining concern is not action upon those wider realities but acceptance of them, faith in them. – Clifford Geertz1

This chapter surveys the cultural and religious experience of the Turkana of Kenya. In it, I first explore elements in this cultural context that could provide resources for an interreligious conversational praxis for individual and social transformation toward God’s reign. Turkana religious and cultural experiences play a definitive role in partnership with the Christian world view for shaping religious identity. In a mutually relational and reciprocal manner Gospel faith is uncovered and shared in a vital and life-giving way without imposition. Secondly, I look at the signs of God’s reign already present and active within the Turkana historical and cultural context. The mission of evangelisation is participation in the transforming mission of God for all, particularly the oppressed and marginalised.2 Interculturation within this particular local church is not isolated from specific embodiments of the Reign of God discovered outside the Turkana culture. Finally, the transformative interaction between the Christian and Turkana world views is reviewed.

1 2

Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, 112. Bosch, Transforming Mission, 510. See also, Pope Paul VI, Evangelisation in the Modern World (Evangelii Nuntiandi) # 63 (London: The Catholic Truth Society, 1975), 86.

A. The Turkana of Kenya Nomadic Pastoralists The Turkana people are primarily nomadic pastoralists who migrate in search of scant grazing for their herds, their sole means of survival. These herds consist of cattle which are the pride of the Turkana; camels that adapt well to the bleak conditions; goats that survive merely because they are adaptable to eating any kind of vegetation that emerges; and donkeys because of their innate stubbornness to survive. Livestock are central to the Turkana way of life culturally, economically, religiously, and politically. Milk, blood, meat, and clothing are provided by the herds. Some animals like the goat and ox are used in rituals of sacrifice to celebrate good fortune as well as when seeking the healing of a sick person and petitioning Akuj (God) to send rain. The Turkana have been classified, according to anthropologist John Lamphear, as belonging ‘to the Ateker group of the Eastern Nilotic linguistic family.’3 That is to say, they share similar cultural and linguistic characteristics with other surrounding ethnic groups like the Karimojong, Jie, Dodos, Toposa, Teso, Nyangatom, and Dongiro. These similar ethnic societies live in Uganda, Sudan, and Ethiopia that border Turkana. Lamphear suggests that, according to oral tradition, the ‘original’ Turkana came from Karamoja District, in eastern Uganda.4 According to the myth of a famous heroine, Nayece, the Turkana may have formed part of the Jie ethnic society. This woman, one of the few females to be considered an ancestor,5 is credited with leading the Turkana into their present homeland in north-west Kenya at 3 4 5

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John Lamphear, The Scattering Time: Turkana Responses to Colonial Rule (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992), 5. Ibid., 5. See Anthony J. Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy in Turkana Cosmology (Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa, 1998), 124. Barrett notes that the ancestors are mostly male. However, there are a few women who achieve such status. He names Nayece, the heroine leader and another great woman Acuna, a famous prophetess, as belonging to the good and famous ancestors.

around 1750.6 The people of Turkana are referred to as Ngiturkana, that is, ‘the people of the Caves.’ The word for a cave in Turkana language is aturkan.7 The Turkana live in a homestead called an awi which contains the nuclear family, that is, a man, his wives and children.8 The homestead consists of a number of huts placed close together and these huts are surrounded by a thorn fence for protection. This is the centre of daily activity for the Turkana. Family members draw water from nearby riverbeds and use the animals kept in the kraal (anok) for food. The kraal is an enclosure for the domestic animals made from sticks and thorny bushes, and it provides shelter and refuge for them at night. The family homes are shaped like round huts constructed simply from branches of trees and roofed with grass to provide coolness under a hot desert sun. A village (ere) exists when there are many homesteads together in one place. The homesteads tend to be temporary constructions as the people may have to move at a moments’ notice for fresh grazing and water. Once grazing and water for the animals has diminished in a particular area, these temporary dwellings are abandoned and the Turkana construct new homesteads in the new area. The Turkana practise polygamy and the man is deemed the head of the household. He usually inherits the ownership and control of the livestock from his father. All the decisions relating to the household and the fate of the animals are made by the head of the family. But members of the family are allowed to use the animals for their needs.

6 7 8

Ibid., 46. See also Krijn van der Jagt, Symbolic Structures in Turkana Religion (Assen/Maastricht, The Netherlands: Van Gorcum, 1989), 3–8. Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy, 63. See P. H. Gulliver, The Family Herds: A Study of Two Pastoral Tribes in East Africa: The Jie and Turkana (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1966), 124– 128.

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Geographic and Demographic Context The land of Turkana9 stretches almost 300 miles from north to south and is about 100 miles from east to west. It is roughly the size of Belgium and the Netherlands combined.10 The region is part of the Great Rift Valley that stretches south through Kenya and beyond. It is bordered to the north by Sudan and Ethiopia, and by Lake Turkana (formally Lake Rudolf) to the east, by Uganda to the west and by the Kenyan Cherangani mountains to the south. This area covers approximately 23,000 square miles, which consists of expansive plains of dry land interspersed with rocky patches, lava peaks, and some mountain ranges.11 Charles Miller described the area as a horizonless frying pan of desolation: a sun-dried moon-scape of cracked earth harder than iron, grotesque lava heaps rising to the height of ten-storey buildings, vast plains of dehydrated thorn scrub, sightless deserts and scorched black mountains. Temperatures often climb to 120 degrees in the shade (when shade can be found), and such articles as brass buttons and belt buckles will sear the flesh after an hour in the sun. Thirst is the traveler’s closest companion.12

It is a desert and semi-desert of desiccated land where little grows, and is home to approximately 173,932 Turkana people who actually live within the District of Turkana.13 According to the last

9

10 11

12 13

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Note that the word Turkana can refer to (a) the geographical area, (b) the ethnicity of the people living in this region, and (c) the language spoken by the people. It has been referred to as Turkanaland by some writers like Philip H. Gulliver. However, the Turkana themselves do not use this title, they will name their homeland Aturkan. Throughout the book, I refer to the region as Turkana. Lamphear, The Scattering Time, 6. See Philip Hugh Gulliver, A Preliminary survey of the Turkana (Cape Town, University of Capetown, 1963), 37. Gulliver notes how important it is to understand the limits of the Turkana environment in which their social system operates. Charles Miller, The Lunatic Express: The Building of An Impossible 600 Mile Railway Across East Africa (Nairobi: Westlands Sundries, 1987), 471. For Kenyan administration purposes, Turkana is a referred to as a district that has a DC (District Commissioner) who is responsible for the governance of the

national Kenyan census conducted in 1989, the approximate total number of Turkana living within Kenya was more than 283,600.14 It can be perceived from these statistics that a significant number of Turkana live and work outside their original culture. Other nonTurkana ethnic groups from different parts of Kenya, and the world live and work within the district. These ‘strangers’ are engaged in economic activities, human development projects, evangelisation, famine relief, and government duties, among other activities, with the Turkana. It is estimated that approximately 20 percent of the Turkana population within Turkana District are not nomadic pastoralists.15 Some of these people live and are employed in towns, Lodwar being the major town. Fishing is the primary means of subsistence for the Turkana people who live along the shores of lake Turkana. In the southern part of Turkana, some people are engaged in agricultural activities along the banks of the Turkwel river. Climatic Features Precipitation is a rare and unpredictable occurrence throughout the area.16 Some places might receive 2–3 inches of rainfall in a given year, while other higher elevated areas, particularly in the extreme northern and southern regions, might get 15–20 inches during a particularly good wet season (Akiporo). Indeed, it is possible that no rain may fall in any given year giving rise to severe droughts. A very hot

14 15

16

area. Turkana joins other neighbouring districts to form part of the Rift Valley Province in Kenya. Statistics cited in Pastoral Plan Diocese of Lodwar October 1997–October 2002 (Diocese of Lodwar, 1997), 6. Raymond Howard Davis, Church Growth and Culture Change in Turkana, 9. See also, William Andre Tingle, The Relationship of Evangelism to Development in Working With A Tribal People, With Primary Emphasis Upon the Turkana People of Kenya (Master of Arts Thesis, Emmanuel School of Religion, Johnson City, Tennessee, 1982), 107–159. See Raymond Howard Davis, ‘Church Growth and Culture Change in Turkana,’ 6–8.

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dry season (akamu) usually dominates the land for most of the year. Temperatures vary from between 80 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Rain (Akiru) is usually expected in March or April. The wet season (Akiporo) continues intermittently through to September. But this trend is highly unpredictable. When rain does occur, many dry riverbeds that network the region become torrents of rushing, flowing streams snaking their way throughout the territory bringing an instant kiss of life to a thirsty desert plain. Vegetation quickly covers the brush and luscious lime green grass appears instantly. Plant growth is plentiful during rainy periods and animals thrive, increasing in number. In a day or two after a particularly heavy deluge, rivers and streams are bone dry once more. Only the toughest grasses and bushes seem to survive bad droughts. Some of these hardy bushes and trees have roots that descend deep into the desert floor for water. One such tree is the esekon that remains green all year round. This tree holds great significance for the Turkana imagination as we will see later in this chapter. During some particularly dry years when there is insufficient or negligible precipitation, catastrophic droughts lead to huge animal losses for the pastoralists. Food is in short supply and this greatly undermines the people’s chances to live and survive in a dignified manner. A Way of Life There is an inherent resiliency and resolve embodied in the Turkana pastoralist even when always faced with near starvation as a consequence of the marginal existence of nomadic life. The Turkana are slow to give up this way of life because it provides such a resource for relationship with one another as individuals and as a community. Their way of life is so grounded in livestock management that it is difficult to imagine an alternative.17 Payments to others and negoti17

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See van der Jagt, Symbolic Structures in Turkana Religion, 9–13. The ownership of any type of animal is important for the Turkana, however, according to van der Jagt, ‘cattle are the prime indicator of wealth in Turkana society’ (9).

ations for marriage are made with animals. Religious rituals are conducted with specific animals sacrificed for a cure to an ailment, for the prediction of rain, for purifying and reconciliatory ceremonies among themselves, and for other special blessings from God (Akuj). The Turkana, who measure wealth in the number of animals a person owns, view people who do not own animals as poor (Ekebotonit singular and Ngikebotok plural). The name Ngikebotok is given to members of a clan that do not own animals and who inhabit the southern part of the Turkana district. They consist of farmers who plant seeds, collect honey, and gather berries to sustain themselves. Even if one had great wealth in other ways besides owning livestock, the Turkana might consider the person Ekebotonit and perhaps even a non-Turkana. Such a stance indicates the significance of owning, sharing, and taking care of animals for Turkana identity and belonging. Barrett contends, Cattle enable a man to become more than an animal, in a way, to be almost a ‘spirit’; indeed, ancestors are ‘made’ by their generosity with animals. In life they were generous in celebrating meat-feasts and sacrifices with many animals. An animal is more than an animal because of its relationship to man; it is almost human; hence, their mutual identification.18

Societal Organisation The people are clear about who owns animals and how grazing and waterholes were managed. Different clans within the region have certain responsibilities for territorial sections. During times of crisis, precipitated by frequent drought spells, permission is granted by a particular clan to graze a specific area in which rain has fallen. The clans have jurisdiction over particular wet-season grazing areas and waterholes and are willing to help share the grazing and the waterholes with each other. This system of ownership and the sharing of resources forms a significant component of the understanding of inter-

18

His observations are limited to the Southern region of Turkana. In the central and some northern regions camels are plentiful and can be indicators of wealth. Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy, 51.

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relatedness within the Turkana society, their animals, and God (Akuj).19 There are rules or laws (ngitalio) that govern grazing areas, owning land, waterholes, animals and things like pots, anthills, ornaments, and weapons.20 It may appear on the surface that everything is shared in common as the pastoralists move with their herds in search of scant grazing and water. However, waterholes are owned by those who dig them in dry river beds and grazing areas are organised by various clans. Men and young boys have the responsibility of looking after the animals making sure none get lost, suffer disease, or are stolen by raiders. The women in the community fetch water which they carry on their heads, gather firewood needed for cooking, and are responsible for rearing the children. The village elders are responsible for ensuring that the laws are respected and they judge disputes that may occur within the different communities. The local emuron (diviner) living in an area impacts on the power dynamic of a local community.21 There are many categories of emuron who specialise in predicting the future through reading animal intestines, chewed tobacco, pairs of sandals, stones, string, and even a gourd.22 The instructions of an emuron carry a lot of political and cultural power that impacts social behaviour as well as reinforcing the belief systems of the people. There are two divisions among the Turkana: Leopards (ngirisae) and Mountains (Ngamoru). Every Turkana person belongs to one of these moieties.23 Everything that exists within the Turkana order is identified within the category of a Mountain or a Leopard. The division of animals depends upon their colour and whether they are tame 19 20 21

22 23

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Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy, 52–56. Ibid., 52–53. See van der Jagt, Symbolic Structures in Turkana Religion, 54–61. Van der Jagt notes that this diviner can be called an ekataman, which means thinker or dreamer: ‘This diviner is in contact with spirits in his dreams’ (55). For details on the content of the predictions these diviners make see Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy, 112–118. A moiety consists of a division within the Turkana that classifies the whole cosmos into two halves, that is, Leopards and Mountains. See Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy, 56.

or not. For example, Barrett notes that ‘The vicious animals belong to the Leopards and the “meek” ones belong to the Mountains.’24 Things are categorised by the colour of the item. Specific items worn by family members indicates their moiety. Within a family system, if a father is a Leopard then his son will become a Mountain and his son, in turn, a Leopard and so on.25 The wives of Leopards are distinguished by wearing gold or yellow bracelets around their necks while the men should wear appropriate brown plumes from a female ostrich in their hair to identify with their particular moiety. The wife of a Mountain, on the other hand, wears a silver bracelet around her neck while the man wears appropriate male ostrich feathers which are black and white in colour. These moieties organise the whole universe of the Turkana and are not viewed as being aggressive or in harmful competition with each other. Barrett contends that ‘These moieties can control the tensions that exist within the society. These opposed groups form the social totality, for they are complementary parts of a single whole.’26 Modern Developments The Turkana social structures are continually under pressure from new external cultural, political, economic, and religious developments. The traditional social structures have been influenced through NGOs (nongovernment agencies), the Kenya government, and various Christian and Muslim missions. One such external influence in 1971 was the building of a major road envisaged to bring fish from Lake Turkana to the rest of Kenya. The fish project, sponsored by NORAD (Norwegian Agency for International Development), was never a success due to poor planning and the fact that a significant portion of the Lake eva24 25

26

Ibid., 56. Ibid., 68. The author observes that ‘A wife joins the moiety of her husband but their male children become their opposites; female children belong to the moiety of their parents until marriage.’ Ibid., 72–73. ‘By sharing feathers’, Barrett contends, ‘the moieties transcend opposition and form the social totality of which they are complementary parts.’

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porated. The huge modern fish factory remains today as a white elephant symbolising development gone wrong, when little attention is given to the felt needs and the knowledge of the local population. However, the road offered many possibilities for the transport of other goods, services, and people into Turkana. Thus, the Turkana people’s social patterns began to change as they engaged themselves in these new developments. Some of their religious practices were transformed when various Christian and Muslim influences began to infiltrate their indigenous religious experience in such a way that some traditional practices such as marriage began to loose their attraction for the young. Compulsory education brought in by the Kenyan government has affected the traditional, Turkana lifestyle. The process of education within schools has changed the way the Turkana perceive the responsibilities for herding animals, fetching water, and the care of the homestead. Since domestic stock are crucial to the way of life for the Turkana, modern education has undermined this important social structure rendering it unable to sustain the Turkana in the long term. Education has caused a migration to other parts of Kenya and the world beyond where different opportunities attract a ‘better’ quality of life. Enticing teachers and other skilled people to the district can be difficult and costly. These social influences continue to impact on the Turkana and their way of life as nomadic pastoralists. Some of this change is experienced by the Turkana through various rehabilitation projects aimed at enabling the Turkana to increase their herds depleted by severe drought conditions. These projects are sponsored by various small church-established NGOs as well as United-Nations-based organisations such as UNICEF. Larger organisations such as World Vision, CCF (Christian Children’s Fund) and CRS (Catholic Relief Services), among others, play significant roles in Turkana cultural life. Improvement of the Turkana way of life through sustainable modern development inevitably changes Turkana culture and their religious viewpoint. With new efficient methods of animal husbandry introduced along with economic practices based on western capitalism, the Turkana’s traditional view of themselves as defined by their nomadic lifestyle is confronted. These external economic influences form a significant component of the Turkana cultural and religious evolution. 176

As described in chapter one, the experience of colonial pacification fostered a system of economic, social, and cultural enslavement. During the time of pacification in the early twentieth century, animals belonging to the Turkana were confiscated as a means of enforcing colonial rule.27 The British imperialists used this strategy to coerce the Turkana to pay taxes. The Turkana viewed the encroachment as the equivalent to raids on their stock. The British never kept these animals but distributed them to traditional rivals like the Pokots.28 This aggravated the Turkana pastoralists as well as depriving them of their livelihood and human dignity. The action of the colonialists increased hostilities between other ethnic groups and the Turkana who fought and raided to restore their confiscated animals. The memory of this brutal oppression remains fresh in the consciousness of the people today as they continue to live their lives within the severe climate of the region. It becomes a difficult memory to embrace and integrate concurrently with the ‘alien’ cultural and social changes impacting on the Turkana. Those who evangelise among the Turkana and educate for human liberation are challenged by the memory and influence of colonialism. Early Missionary Experience In order to initiate famine relief and begin a process of evangelisation in this part of Kenya, missionaries needed special permits from the colonial government. Many people and animals had died in the wake of the famine of the early sixties, leaving the surviving isolated Turkana people at the mercy of an unrelenting, sunbaked, and unsympathetic desert.29 While much of Kenya at this time experienced 27 28 29

See Casper Odegi Awuondo, Turkana Resistance to British Rule, 1910–1918 (Nairobi: University of Nairobi, 1980). Lamphear, The Scattering Time, 269. Famine is a constant companion for the Turkana. In as much as famine is perceived as problematic, cattle rustling forms part of the Turkana consciousness and causes conflict and stress for the community. Such a violent situation compounds the rehabilitation of the Turkana. See Dylan Henrickson, Jeremy Armon, and Robin Mearns, Conflict and Vulnerability to Famine: Livestock

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drought conditions, the Turkana were the most seriously harmed by its devastating consequences. With little relief from the hot climate, the concerned missionaries realised that the people’s frustration and fatigue gave way to hopelessness and inertia. Encountering this acute famine situation, food, safe drinking water, meaningful education, and medicine were major felt priorities identified in collaboration with Christian missionaries.30 Addressing these priorities in a sustained effort would help nurture the lives of the people and affirm their dignity. Subsequent to identification of these priorities, the Catholic church began a primary evangelisation and development programme placing emphasis on education, health, and human rights with the long term goal of restoring local self-reliance and self-confidence. All these influences would become significant catalysts for the cultural and religious change experienced among the Turkana. Compared to the changes and improvements that occurred for other ethnic groups in Kenya, like the Kikuyu, Luo, and the Maasai, among others, who had different experiences of colonialism, the Turkana experience is unique. Access to any form of modern improvement through government sponsorship was denied to them during colonial times as well as being ignored by the indigenous Kenyan government during the postcolonial era. Few down country Kenyans would visit Turkana on a regular basis, if at all. Nevertheless, for the Turkana change became evident through the introduction and expansion of primary and secondary education for the younger generation sponsored mainly by the Catholic church. There were some schools, primary and secondary, sponsored by some Protestant groups that supported the general education effort. Further changes were experienced with informal educational programmes like DEP (Development Education Programme) instituted in the late 1970s to help Turkanas not only with literacy and numeracy skills, but also

30

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Raiding in Turkana, Kenya (London: International Institute For Environment and Development, Drylands Programme, 1998), 14–17. See J. Bush, ‘The Role of Food Aid in Drought and Recovery: Oxfam’s North Turkana (Kenya) Drought Relief Programme, 1992–94’, Disasters, 19 3(1995), 247–259. See also M. Buchanan-Smith and S. Davies, Famine Early Warning and Response: The Missing Link? (London: Intermediate Technology, 1995).

to empower them to appropriate the tumultuous cultural, political and economic transformation going on in their midst. This programme, sponsored by the Catholic church in Turkana, gave rise to DELTA (Development Education and Leadership Teams in Action) that was formed to educate the people in their villages.31 Programmes in adult literacy, family life, community health, women’s groups, savings and credit banking, agriculture and water projects were among the activities offered. The overall objective of the educational programmes was to enable the Turkana to attain a critical awareness and participate in their own transformation as they engage the political, economic, social, and religious changes taking place within their society and faith perspective. Much of this education and the interaction with other cultures began to influence the younger generation. They were no longer wearing the outward signs of their culture manifested in the way the traditional men and women dressed and behaved. The wearing of skins and the particular bracelets and ostrich feathers that identified their specific moiety was disappearing. The carrying of traditional spears, wrist knives, and small stools (Ekicolong), etc., gave way to an adaptation of western fashion and cultural mores of behaviour. The younger generations began to accept and embrace the new cultural and religious ways and were letting go of some of the former traditional ways of life which their parents believed in and practised. Given the tendency to forego traditional customs, there are signs that not all customary practices have disappeared. For instance, students in schools will take time out, particularly during a bereavement, 31

See John Baur, 2000 years of Christianity in Africa: An African Church History (Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa, 1994), 486. These programmes were developed by Anne Hope and Sally Timmel who based their work upon the insights and practice of the Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire. Four handbooks entitled Training for Transformation were published by these authors to guide educators and learners. For the most recent handbook, see Anne Hope and Sally Timmel, Training for Transformation: A Handbook for Community Workers: Book IV (London: ITDG, 1999). See also Maureen Sheehy, Partners Companion to Training for Transformation (Dublin: Partners Training for Transformation, 2001). According to the author, this volume is offered to complement the content of the four handbooks.

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to participate in traditional funeral rituals and shave their heads as a sign of respect for the death of a close family member. The boys will not neglect asapan, an initiation rite that symbolises their break with the immaturity of childhood. Girls are anxious to marry so they can be accepted and initiated into Turkana tradition. Despite forty years of Christian evangelisation, the religious world view of the indigenous tradition prevails strongly, especially in times of crisis such as sickness and death. Many contemporary Turkana enjoy modern western influenced lifestyles and practise Christian religion. They perceive no conflict with Christianity while participating in traditional ceremonies to affirm the continuity of their identity enshrined in their cultural and religious traditions. Emerging from this stance is the capacity to hold in balance both the traditional and the contemporary world view. The economic development and material advancement, encompassed in the philosophy of liberal capitalism, has challenged the Turkana communal relational paradigm. Socio-economic development projects, like famine relief, irrigation schemes, commercial lake fishing, and retail outlets, etc., have affected the traditional communitarian quality of life. This became evident as new urban centres began to mushroom around the region in the wake of the new economic and social activities associated with road building, oil exploration, tourism, and the various merchant activities taking place in and around these centres. Many Turkana view the growth of towns as places that breed poverty. The people are lured into towns32 by the fascination of town life only to discover that destitution awaits them. Urbanisation, with its portrayal of modernity and progress, has not necessarily been the key to replace the marginalisation and the subsistence of nomadic pastoralism.33 The economic, social, and Christian religious changes 32

33

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This is a general trend in other parts of Kenya as well where large portions of the rural population gravitate to various cities like Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa to seek jobs and a better standard of living. A great number of shanty towns have sprung up around these cites where the people live in abject poverty and squalor. See Vigdis Broch-Due, ‘Remembered Cattle, Forgotten People: The Morality of Exchange and the Exclusion of the Turkana Poor’, in David M. Anderson

evoked and continue to provoke a new indigenous theological conversation regarding the process and meaning of liberation for humanisation toward God’s reign. Consequently, a different analysis and interpretation of indigenous culture and religious ways of life is needed to explain and appropriate the external influences impacting on the lives of the Turkana. Such a cultural and religious renaissance shapes the understanding of how the Gospel, as revealed through Jesus Christ, interacts with the Turkana cultural narrative and religious world view. The famine situation among the Turkana not only alters their way of life and their structures for meaning-making,34 it also influences the lives of Christian missionaries living among them. Most importantly, the vision of life contained within the Turkana’s traditional religious sensibility influences the Christian missionaries’ perspective of who and whose they are in this catastrophic situation. For example, what does it mean to share the Gospel in light of the suffering inflicted by famine? How does this cultural context enhance an Irish Christian identity? These questions form a significant component undergirding a mutual, reciprocal interculturation. Religious Reconstruction For the Turkana, God, human beings, and animals are at the life core of their existence and their religious and cultural meaning making.35

34

35

and Vigdis Broch-Due, eds., The Poor Are Not Us: Poverty and Pastoralism in Eastern Africa (Nairobi: East African Educational Publishing, 1999), 87. There is a real danger, because of perpetual famines and the subsequent responses of aid agencies to carry the Turkana through each crisis, that a hopeless physical and psycho-social dependency can be developed in and among the Turkana. Such a tendency needs to be avoided and care taken by agencies and missionaries not to take advantage of a vulnerable people. Information relating to the meaning and interpretation of the Turkana religion is sketchy. However, for a helpful exploration of aspects of the Turkana religion, see van der Jagt, Symbolic Structures in Turkana Religion, 70–71. According to van der Jagt, ‘Turkana religion is not theocentric but a life-centric religion. The core of the religious activities are concentrated on the protection and strengthening of life’ (71). These observations are still debatable in the sense that does

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The social condition of deprivation, the impact of external economic and political forces, and the introduction of ‘new’ religions, inevitably caused the people to reinterpret some of their own religious traditions. In redefining who they are midst a changing cultural and religious environment, the Turkana are challenged to rediscover for themselves sources for renewed life within their traditions and history. This process stimulates a reconstruction of new symbols in partnership with the external social and religious symbols that can sustain the people’s hope for a better future within the community. Consequently, the Turkana borrow, integrate, and appropriate into their own indigenous religious experience, symbols from Christianity like the cross, the sacraments, rosary beads, holy water, Christian hymns, Christian music, and so on. Conversely, Christianity has appropriated the significance of the spear during the prayers at Mass, the animal skin during important sacraments of initiation, the Turkana traditional prayers (agatakin) during liturgies, and the Turkana clay (emunyen) for anointing and reconciliation, inter alia. Thus, there emerged a ‘new’ relationship within this religious and cultural context that can be appropriately identified as interculturation. As a result, both the Christian and Turkana culture and religious perspective underwent a mutually religious and spiritual interculturation that does not distort the integrity of either tradition but enriches both as living traditions mirroring Gospel vision. This authentic interculturation avoids a surface syncretism whereby elements are borrowed arbitrarily without appropriate mutual and reciprocal in-depth theological reflection to name a new emerging cultural and religious reality. This claim is further explored in the next section as the signs of God’s reign are uncovered and the face of a transcendent God is made known not only to the local context but also to the world.

this religion culminate in the worship of a particular God in the way that the Judeo-Christian tradition advocates?

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B. Signs of the Reign of God – Observing the ‘Seeds’ of the Gospel

AkujGod Ancestors-Spirits Persons in Community Animals-Plants Land, Soil, Rocks, Inanimate objects Figure 5: The Turkana religious world view

In partnership with Christian missionaries, the people of Turkana have a means through their traditional religious perspective to bring good news to their poor, to proclaim liberty to their captives, and bring sight to their blind, etc. (see Lk.4:18–19). Traditional religious and cultural symbols36 have the potential to explain and reveal the meaning of life in order to transcend it. In other words, the Turkana religious and cultural symbols can reveal manifestations of the Reign of God already in their midst.37 An example of this may be in the way 36

37

The function of symbols, i.e., music, dance, art, rituals, and fashion, etc. is to enable human beings to transcend their lived experience. Also, as well as functioning to coordinate and organise society in reflecting upon itself, they can be a means to carry faith and a specific understanding of what it means to be human in the divine. See Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, 90. Geertz suggests that ‘Religious symbols formulate a basic congruence between a particular style of life and a specific (if, most often, implicit) metaphysic, and in so doing sustain each with the borrowed authority of the other.’ See Dietmar Roller, ‘The Turkana: Their Cosmology and the Task of Missions: A Theoretical analysis of the Turkana’s Concept of Life and the Resulting Approaches to Mission among the Nilo-Hamites’ (Master of Arts thesis pre-

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the people share animals in times of crisis, their respect for the sacredness of animals and nature, their connectedness to the ancestors, and their reliance on the power of Akuj (God) to provide them with everything they need for a life of meaning and dignity. Later in the chapter there is a more detailed discussion of symbols, metaphors, images, and language. Like some historical religions there are mediators who form an essential link between human experience and divine realities. Mediators The emuron (diviner), as stated earlier, plays an important role as a sign of God’s presence within the culture. As a prophet (ekadwaran) who reveals to the people the intentions of Akuj, the emuron is a symbol of the power of God in the midst of the community. These diviners can be chosen by Akuj and the ability to foretell events can come directly from Akuj. However, a diviner can inherit the ‘gift’ from his father.38 Whether the gift is inherited or received directly from Akuj, they cannot use it with authority unless they are initiated into the Turkana tradition. Regarding how a person is called to be an emuron by Akuj, Barrett observes that ‘Akuj or a good spirit can take a person away from his home to dwell in a strange place, usually with lots of grass, cattle and coolness, to stay there for some period of time, which may last for a few months.’39 There, the person may be caused to dream about things that may happen.40 This is the highest form of emuron and when the dreams are told and come true, the person will earn the title ‘emuron lo a Iteni’ which means ‘the true diviner’ because the things foretold come to pass.

38 39 40

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sented to Columbia Graduate School of Bible and Mission, Columbia, South Carolina, 1990). Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy, 105. Ibid., 105. Ibid., 107. Barrett notes that ‘Dreams bring one into Akuj’s realm and so are cool and true. It is this coolness that makes sacrificial activity efficacious and re-establishes a relationship between Akuj and humans.’

Diviners are mediators who function as interlocutors or intercessors between human beings and Akuj. Akuj speaks to them through dreams and empowers them to predict the future. These diviners perform a significant role within the community by prophesying in relation to communal and individual activity as this pertains to Akuj and the ancestors. The emuron can use a special clay, as mentioned earlier, known as emunyen to enable healing. The clay is smeared upon clients who complain of sickness, or possession by a bad ancestor, because it has been revealed to the emuron in a dream by Akuj. Thus, the emuron has a capacity for healing and restoring harmony within relationships. Sickness does not just afflict individuals, but the whole village shares in the affliction and requires healing. If anyone is sick, members of the family usually will visit the emuron for advice.41 Not only is the emuron seen as a healer of the sick, but he or she can foretell happenings in the future like the prediction of successful animal raids. He or she can forecast rain, cure infertility, and perform different rituals in order to placate and to restore harmony with the living, the ancestors (ngikaram) and Akuj. The emuron is usually a male. Female diviners have existed such as Acuna mentioned earlier, but they are very rare.42 Particular prescriptions, sacrifices, and rituals are designed by the emuron to affirm the life-force within the community. Diviners who become credible prophets mediate between the living in this world and the dead in the spirit world. Their reputation grows when they have successfully predicted the right cures and people have recovered. They can envision the outcome of war and if they are correct, they enjoy an even greater reputation in the community, thereby graduating to a higher level of diviner, a greater prophet.43 These prophets are quick to point 41

42

43

I am reminded of the Christian tradition, according to the letter of James 5:14, ‘If one of you is ill, he should send for the elders of the church, and they must anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord and pray over him.’ Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy, 105. Women can function as healers. See van der Jagt, Symbolic Structures in Turkana Religion, 57–58. Van der Jagt notes how ‘The akatwan is a feminine diviner. She is an amuron. She is both diviner and healer.’ According to van der Jagt, ‘The word akatwan comes from the verb atware, which means “to get out, to force out”’ (57). Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy, 112.

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out that if a particular prescription fails to work or their prediction regarding the outcome of a particular cattle raid went wrong, it was because the clients or warriors did not follow their advice precisely. Thus, they maintain their status and reputation. However, their credibility is questioned if the diviner fails to empower someone to recover from certain sicknesses such as spirit possession. Turkana View of God Deep within the Turkana’s religious sensibility is an image of God (Akuj) who, according to Barrett, ‘takes an active part in everything that happens’44 within the world of the Turkana. The Turkana name God as Akuj which is a feminine noun and begs the question whether God is male or female for the Turkana. I believe, as Barrett contends, that gender does not have the same meaning for the Turkana as it does for a person coming from a western culture. Barrett concludes that ‘Akuj is thought to be androgynous, i.e., having male and female behavioural characteristics or in the archaic meaning of androgynous, as being “hot” and “cold” (cool).’45 In the Turkana belief system, life or good is acknowledged as something that brings coolness and evil is named as something that is hot. God or Akuj is always cool. Water is a symbol of coolness. Sickness is viewed as something hot and evil. This dualism emanates from the particular context in which the people live. The context of the hot desert, where temperatures rarely dip below 110 degrees Fahrenheit, shapes the people’s understanding of good and evil. Rain brings coolness and is of God. The searing temperatures burn, bring disease and famine. It is perceived as evil and thus ‘hot’.

44

45

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Ibid., 76. For information on the symbolism reflected in Turkana religion, see van der Jagt, Symbolic Structures in Turkana Religion, 14–30. According to van der Jagt, there are eighteen contexts in which the word akuj is used, see esp. 16–17. He states, ‘The word akuj can refer to a particular supernatural being, also to departed ancestors, to rain and to illness, to the force that is in herbs and foods and to certain qualities of the world around’ (15). Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy, 84.

While the Turkana believe that this same Akuj permits evil in the world, they also believe that Akuj is all good and takes care of their fundamental needs. The people generally view Akuj as benevolent. However, if transgressions are committed, Akuj may be petitioned to punish the evil doer. Barrett contends that the people believe that Akuj permits evil spirits (ngipian) to ‘punish humans in an active manner for their failure to follow the correct order (etal).’46 Since Akuj is at the centre of all life, Akuj will be at the centre of all ritual and sacrificial activity performed by the Turkana for a specific need. Akuj is the important one, the source and foundation of all life within the Turkana cosmos. Magesa contends that within an African religious tradition, ‘God is seen as the Great Ancestor, the first Founder and Progenitor, the Giver of Life, the Power behind everything that is. God is the first Initiator of a people’s way of life, its tradition.’47 Akuj is ‘the “owner” (elope) of all things: people, animals, grass, rain, health, “everything” (ngiboro daang).’48 Akuj is responsible for all that happens especially providing life-giving rain that makes the desert bloom (see figure 5, p.183). When rain is needed urgently, there are ceremonies performed to gain the favour of Akuj and the good spirits of the ancestors. A special goat will be sacrificed, roasted, and eaten to petition Akuj for rain. This function is carried out by local ngimurok (diviners) who have received a special message from Akuj that a particular animal should be picked with the appropriate colour and offered on behalf of the community. Within the sacrificial ritual, the relationship between the Turkana people themselves, their animals, and Akuj will be critiqued, reconstructed, and transformed to reflect Akuj’s intention for them. God’s intention can be the gift of rain that provides them with an abundance of food and grass for grazing or there may be no rain after an animal sacrifice. When there is no rain, the people are not angry at Akuj, but see the trial as an opportunity to persevere before Akuj, enhance relationships with each other, and attend to creation as always gift from Akuj. 46 47 48

Ibid., 76. Laurenti Magesa, African Religion: The Moral Traditions of Abundant Life, 35. Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy, 80.

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The Ancestors The Turkana believe strongly in the presence of the ancestors and their spirits are a powerful symbolic force for those who are still living. These ancestors are referred to as the ‘living dead’. Benezet Bujo describes an ancestor as ‘the main pillar on which a community or clan rests. The ancestor constitutes the unity of the community and represents the pivotal point from which all actions of the members of a clan take their dynamism and legitimacy.’49 Though dead for many years, even centuries, the ancestors have powerful stories of love and fear that continue to influence the way life is lived in the present. There are both good and bad ancestors. In relation to these moral distinctions, Barrett contends that, People who are married, i.e., full humans, are interred properly after death and join the good ancestors if they have been cool people during their lives. Cool people are generous, and mean people are hot. They help the living if the living are generous with sacrifices, particularly when asked. Unmarried people are not interred for they are not full human beings and, therefore, cannot join the good ancestors. They can join the evil ancestors. 50

The living are always in close relationship with the ancestors and this relationship is made explicit through various rituals such as placing pieces of meat beside graves to implore a favourable disposition. Green branches from the esekon tree are placed on top of a grave to symbolise the continuance of an active relationship.51 The memory of the ancestors is kept alive within public rituals to acquaint and shape the consciousness of the community. Participants in these rituals take on the very existence of particular ancestors and call them by name 49

50

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Benezet Bujo, ‘On the Road toward an African Ecclesiology: Reflections on the Synod’, in Maura Browne, ed., The African Synod: Documents, Reflections, Perspectives, 140. Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy, 101. In addition, Barrett posits that ‘Unmarried people, especially women without children and by extension without stock, are often suspect of being involved in witchcraft.’ Men, too, can be accused of witchcraft when they do not own cattle. The witchcraft of preventing rain is a serious indictment for a man. Ibid., 124–125.

when petitioning for a special favour. The ancestor’s personality and specific influence come alive before the community in the performance of a ritual that recalls that ancestor’s particular spirit of influence when they lived in the world. The good ancestors are known by the Turkana as ngikaram. These particular good ancestors are concerned for the wellbeing of the living. According to Magesa, God, the ancestors, and the spirits are all powers or forces that impinge on human life in one way or another. In that sense they are all moral agents. The way they act has been determined by the ancestors and is ‘stored’ in the tradition of the people.52

The actors in a Turkana ritual of animal sacrifice illustrate and give shape to how life is lived and interpreted. The particular body movements of the participants in a dance, the music played, and the gestures applied articulate in a tangible fashion the interconnectedness of Akuj and the ‘living dead’ ancestors with the living. The living, who are the descendants of the ancestors, are made conscious of who they are and whose they are through creatively imagining the past in song, dance, rituals of sacrifice, and rites of passage, etc. There is also a desire for the living to be united ultimately with the ancestors and for this to happen, care is needed to live a good, moral life grounded in the Turkana tradition. According to this tradition, marriage is significant and the capacity to have children to promote human life is given great priority as the acceptable moral prescription for the good life. As we will see later, those women and men who are not married and those who cannot have children challenge the tradition to examine its vision of the meaning and purpose of human life. Participation in rites of passage, among other customs and practices, enables life to flourish as well as keeping the nurturing bond between the living and the dead.

52

Magesa, African Religion, 36.

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Rituals Within the Turkana cosmos, different rituals are performed for healing, birth, death, initiation, marriage, and rain.53 Within such activities, the Turkana community can define and redefine their identity in relationship to their cosmology – the living, the dead, and creation. Rituals are a means for the people to establish a process of communication in order to dialogue among themselves regarding not only their own traditions, but also Christian traditions, and even Islamic traditions currently interacting with their culture. According to Kabasele Lumbala, ‘Ritual is replete with symbols that simultaneously veil and unveil a deeper dimension and can move us to search further, to go beyond all our empirical discoveries.’54 Music and dance, in addition to providing entertainment, have a capacity to critique the social order and empower people to transcend the limitations of that order. For example, when a chief or elder is considered corrupt within Turkana society, this corruption, that produces disharmony within community relationships, can be exposed in the context of particular music and dance rituals. Even the rhythm of a rain dance is such that it can provoke Akuj to listen and respond to the particular urgent need while, at the same time, it coordinates solidarity within human relationships. The ox (emong) is a symbol of wealth and prestige within the community and is central to the performance of rituals.55 Within local traditional religious ceremonies, the skin of this animal is considered an important emblem of people’s identity. The ox represents a source of life for the people. The skin (amuny) of an ox plays a prominent role in traditional weddings, funerals, and initiation ceremonies. In addition to creating a sense of identity for the community, the skin assists in evoking a sense of the sacredness and the vulnerability of human life. The people are aware that Akuj is the provider and ultimate ‘owner’ of these animals. Akuj gives the animals to the peo53 54 55

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For an overview of these rituals and others, see van der Jagt, Symbolic Structures in Turkana Religion, 31–53. Lumbala, Celebrating Jesus Christ in Africa, 4. See van der Jagt, Symbolic Structures in Turkana Religion, 31–53.

ple so that they can have life. For Akuj to continue pouring blessings upon the people, the people are acutely aware of their need to be in a life-giving relationship with Akuj; to be reconciled with themselves, others, and creation. The people desire a life-giving relationship reflected through the blessings of Akuj manifested in plentiful rain, an abundance of grass for their animals, and children to care for them in their old age. The Spirits The Turkana world view and narrative is influenced by the spirit world. This provides a foundation for explaining and addressing problems that emerge for the society. The problems are linked to the role spirits play in the lives of the people. Ekipe is an evil spirit and can be carried by the wind. This spirit is recognised particularly in sand storms that resemble miniature tornadoes. When a particular storm whirls through a village, the people call out eyei ekipe, ‘there is evil’. The dust that these storms scatter carries certain diseases to a community. Therefore, it is believed that these winds carry spirits with evil intentions. Evil spirits (ngipian) not only cause sickness in humans and animals and bad will in relationships, but they also cause the rains to fail, and cause death for some people. These phenomena need addressing and appropriate ritual response to offset the harmful intent of evil embodied in the wind and some angry ancestral spirits. Some of the living may have evil intentions and invoke an evil spirit to harm a neighbour. Witchcraft is a source of great fear.56 For those who live in close relationship suspicions arise as to who causes the misfortune. 56

See Anthony J. Gittins, Bread For the Journey: The Mission of Transformation and the Transformation of Mission (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1993) 115–131. Gittins takes seriously the phenomena of witchcraft by viewing it as a significant component of the human condition. It concerns the desire for harmony in the midst of all human relationships. He powerfully suggests that unless missionaries ‘understand the sociological processes of witchcraft and undertake an honest dialogue with actual people in real situations and with firsthand experience of witchcraft, then the Good News will fall largely on deaf ears’ (125).

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The spirit world has an enormous impact on the life of the Turkana and time and effort is spent to ensure that harmony exists between the living community and the spirit world. While there is concern relating to the destruction that evil spirits cause within the community, there is much joy with the gifts that good ancestral spirits can bring. When rain is plentiful and the people and animals are experiencing good health, the people celebrate. Remembering the ancestors through appropriate rituals and living a good moral life that respects the force of life within the community,57 the power of life or ‘coolness’, as mentioned earlier, will always come their way. However, when the ancestors are forgotten as people go about their lives and coolness is lost or weakened as a result, certain ritual activity is required to offset any adverse effects from not remembering them. An animal of a specific colour and particular sex is usually sacrificed. It is always crucial to restore ‘coolness’, which represents harmony, in all relationships. Sacrifice Sacrifice is an important element in the relational dynamic between Akuj, human beings (Ngitunga), and animals (Ngibaren). The animals represent the world of all creation. According to Barrett, there are three distinct movements in the act of sacrifice namely, separation, recombination, and reconstruction.58 That is to say, the animal is first separated from the owner in order to be made available as a ‘gift’ to Akuj. Second, because Akuj is the ‘owner’ of all the stock, the spirit of the animal is being recombined, to use Barrett’s terminology, with Akuj in sacrifice. Third, a new identity emerges or is ‘reconstructed’. Barrett asserts that ‘It is not just the relationship that is reconstructed, but also the elements of the relationship.’59 These three movements within an act of sacrifice are very important in trying to understand how the Turkana people relate to each other, to God, and to the world, 57 58 59

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See Magesa, African Religion, 31–32. Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy, 39. Ibid., 39.

that is the desert, animals, and plants, etc. Animal sacrifice is a ritual practice that connects the community to their history. This action enables them to access a vision for life and human wellbeing within that story. Barrett concludes that Sacrifice integrates action and thought, ritual and myth, social and mystical, man, animal and Akuj in a new creative and dynamic synthesis, i.e., a new super-reality, to deal with the ambiguity, ambivalence and murkiness of life.60

In some sense, sacrifice provides a tangible link with that which is beyond this world: the transcendent realm of lived reality. Initiation The Turkana educate and pass on their traditions to the younger generation by special initiation ceremonies like the asapan, for example. This is a ritual whereby young boys leave behind childhood ways and achieve maturity as adult men. The memory of the community’s religious traditions and history are preserved and passed on through the older men who act as sponsors for the Turkana tradition. Initiation rites are an effective means to carry forward the traditional faith, culture, and meaning-making of the people for each generation so that the character of each generation is shaped to manifest the continuance and respect for human life and human relationships. A goat of a particular colour and sex is speared for the ritual. Amidst several ritualistic practices is the ‘breaking’ of the backbone of the goat by the young men who want to break with their childhood. The bone carries much significance for meaning-making. Firstly, the bone, when broken, symbolises in the Turkana culture transformation of existing relationships. Secondly, within the initiation ceremony of asapan a boy ‘breaks’ a bone to illustrate that he breaks not only with childhood but also with his immaturity, to become an adult. Thirdly, the breaking of a bone or even a stick by a mother who has given birth is symbolic of her initiation and return again to community.61 This 60 61

Ibid., 210. Anthony J. Barrett, ‘Incarnating the Church in Turkana’, Spearhead, 1978, 3.

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ritual action of breaking a stick or a bone takes place in most major life events for the Turkana. It is a powerful symbol that intimates change and transformation within a community of relationships. Following the ritual of breaking the backbone, the young men go to the home of their sponsors, known as an asapanu ‘father’, to learn the tradition through stories and ritual formulas. Barrett observes, ‘For a few days at the asapanu father’s home, the young man must behave like a child. He must marvel at everything and ask for the names of the most obvious things like oxen, goats, gourds, hills, wells […]’.62 For girls, initiation into womanhood is when they give birth to children. There is no elaborate initiation ceremony for women that would enable women to claim an equal share in how the tradition is passed on to them. Women receive the tradition through being married to an initiated man. The performance of Turkana rituals activate common community memories that recreate a sense of a common and shared life. These rituals provide an impetus for individual and communal agency for the people to address their problems in a meaningful way. There are limitations in what rituals can convey in this context such as the inclusivity of women. Thus, they are in need of evaluation, critique, and re-interpretation to improve their capacity to reflect life for all midst contemporary cultural and religious influences. 62

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Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy in the Turkana Cosmology, 71. Barrett gives an explicit account of this ritual act of asapan (initiation). See also Paul Connerton’s notion of various forms of ‘bodily knowing’ that ritual and commemorative ceremonies evoke for community remembering in How Societies Remember (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), esp. 41–104. Connerton suggests that a society can transmit its culture through certain bodily ceremonies and bodily gestures that the spoken and written word are incapable of transmitting. This is significant for the Turkana culture which continually reminds itself of its identity through performing various rituals around animal sacrifice in common. Connerton contends that ‘The appropriate performance of the movements contained in the repertoire of the group not only reminds the performers of systems of classification which the group holds to be important; it requires also the exercise of habit-memory.’ See esp. 88. See also van der Jagt, Symbolic structures in Turkana Religion, 38–41. Van der Jagt posits that ‘The initiation is seen as a new birth. The actual moment of the birth can be identified. It is during the common meal with the initiated men that the event of birth into the new world takes place’ (41).

Assessing the Turkana Expression of God’s Reign Informed to some extent by Ricci’s insights within the Chinese context, contemporary interculturation endeavours around the world are challenged to be attentive to specific cultural and religious meaning perspectives and their expressions. The careful attending to the modes by which the peoples of the world live and express themselves culturally and religiously is at the heart of the process of Christian evangelisation. For instance, in relation to the Turkana, the naming and understanding of God is significant to unveiling a life-giving perception of God’s presence and action in the context. Among the Turkana, there is some conflict in relation to which interpretation of God and Jesus Christ is most meaningful. For example, is the Turkana Akuj similar to the Christian notion of God? Should Jesus be compared to a local diviner (emuron)? Is Jesus one of the great Ancestors? Missionaries today dispute different translations and, not unlike Ricci’s rites controversy, this causes problems for the ongoing sharing of Christian faith and the maturing of faith within the Turkana Christian community. The question of who should decide which particular understanding is appropriate for the integrity of both the Christian and Turkana traditions is essential for an authentic appropriation of the Gospel vision. Similar to Ricci’s quest for suitably naming God, I wonder how Jesus Christ can be appropriately named within the Turkana culture? I offered some suggestions in chapter two regarding the naming of God for the Turkana. For instance, I explored the use of the term Emuron lo a Iteni in relation to understanding Jesus as a Turkana diviner. Akuj is the name for God and Akuj is the ‘owner’ of all things. The Spirit of God in Jesus is referred to as Etau lo Ebusan (the heart that is holy or blessed). For the Turkana, Etau (heart) represents their understanding of the life-principle or ‘soul’.63 God is perceived in the Turkana re63

For an overview of the meaning and significance of Etau at the core of the Turkana concept of life, see Dietmar Roller, ‘The Turkana: Their Cosmology and the Task of Missions: A Theoretical Analysis of the Turkana’s Concept of Life and the Resulting Approaches to Mission Among the Nilo-Hamites’ (Master of Arts thesis submitted to the Columbia Graduate School of Bible and

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ligious imagination as one who is involved in every aspect of their lives.64 Within the Christian imagination, the relationality of God is reflected through Jesus and his spirit. For the Turkana, a trinitarian theology is not problematic in the sense that their indigenous religious imagination reflects a life-giving (Etau) connection and relationality with Akuj. The religion expresses an intimacy with the dead ancestors, the living, the earth, the sky, and so on. In such a way, the Spirit of God is present, active and relational.65 This also relates to the whole question of the communion of saints. Other questions emerge with regard to rites of passage. For example, how are the Turkana rites of passage expressive of the Turkana’s human nature and moral behaviour? How can these rites be conceived within the Christian framework of sacramentality? How are the beliefs in the ancestors compatible with Christian beliefs in the communion of saints, etc.? These are some of the questions and issues that a paradigm of direct evangelisation among both missionaries and the participants in a diverse culture might deal with within a process of authentic interculturation. The criteria to assess these elements of Turkana religious culture would be, as I suggested earlier, the vision of the Gospel. For the Turkana, the uncovering of Gospel vision within their particular customs, rites of passage, animal sacrifices, folklore, and so on, takes into account their indigenous traditional religion and its orientation toward God’s reign. Learning from Ricci’s dialogical and participative approach, I am convinced that a respectful hermeneutical dialogue

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Missions, Columbia, South Carolina, 1990), 75–88. Roller states that, ‘The Etau is a being within man and it regulates the emotions, the thoughts and the will of a person, as well as psychological processes’ (75). He further claims that ‘Etau is the energy of human life, all forces of life are connected with the Etau’. See Krijn van der Jagt, Symbolic Structures in Turkana Religion, 27. Van der Jagt notes that for the Turkana, ‘Life comes continuously forth from the sourcebeing and returns to it.’ For a perspective on trinitarian theology as being open to other religions, see Dupuis, Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism, 300. Dupuis suggests that ‘Trinitarian Christology shows that the particularity of the Christevent leaves space for the action of the Logos asarkos; Spirit-Christology helps, likewise, to see that the Spirit of God is universally present and acting, before and after the event.’

would be helpful for all contexts. For instance, interpreting and reinterpreting Christian and Turkana religious traditions is the goal for discovering faith in a God that abundantly loves, creates, and provides life for all. For an authentic religious interculturation, it is essential to discover, like Ricci did in China, the faith criteria that would guide a dialogue within an African context generally and within the Turkana milieu particularly. For example, the Turkana people conceive and name God in a specific manner. If Akuj is perceived by the Turkana as the great Ancestor, will this interpretation be acceptable and relevant for them and their particular cultural context? What are the philosophical and theological underpinnings for a Turkana/African relational community and the way in which they conceive God in community?66 From my experience among Turkana people, I discovered that there is little difficulty in conversing about the concept of God. However, there can be a dilemma with how God or Akuj reveals Godself to humankind through Jesus Christ.67 Is there a comparable image within the Turkana people’s culture that could assist in perceiving Jesus Christ emanating from their own perception of God (Akuj) and the mediation of the Ngimurok (diviners)? For the Turkana, how can Jesus Christ as a mediator (diviner) be accepted within their religious conceptions and cultural way of life? If it can be decided that Jesus, the Christ of faith is truly an Emuron, but different from the local Turkana diviners, the Turkana may embrace Jesus as part of their faith system.68 This acceptance of the Christian view does not necessarily 66

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Van der Jagt offers insights into the way God/Akuj functions in the Turkana society. See van der Jagt, Symbolic Structures in Turkana Religion, 15–28. See also Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, 58–106. Mbiti notes that ‘Whatever happens to the individual happens to the whole group, and whatever happens to the whole group happens to the individual’ (106). See Roller, ‘The Turkana: Their Cosmology and the Task of Missions’, 182– 185. The reality of Jesus Christ needs to tap into the life-force of the people represented as Etau meaning heart. Understanding the role of the female and male diviner within the Turkana religious system is key for naming Jesus Christ as Emuron. Such an understanding would need to separate Jesus Christ from the emuron who plays a key role in

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mean they should discard or replace their traditional religio-philosophical system if it continues to enhance life and meaning. Certain elements in any religio-philosophical system will promote and sustain life and others will not. Similar to the challenge Ricci faced in relation to aspects of the Chinese rites and customs, the Turkana people have certain rites of passage and healing ceremonies that both socialise them and that form a specific religious consciousness toward Akuj. The local diviner is an important component of the people’s belief system that is significant in the analysis of the way in which Akuj is revealed and appropriated in that culture. For example, in a healing ceremony, the ritual of slaughtering a goat as a sacrifice and sign can help appease an angry spirit and access comfort and healing for someone feeling the negative influence of an ancestor. Within these rituals of healing and other rites of passage will be songs of praise and petition beseeching the ancestors and Akuj to look favourably on their situation. Ricci’s cultural accommodation among the Chinese challenged the church to accept the Chinese rites in order for Christian evangelisation to be effective in transforming their exclusive culture to reflect the Gospel vision of inclusion. By refusing to recognise the religious and spiritual significance of the Chinese rites for hundreds of years, missionaries failed to make a lasting impact upon China.69 Missionaries, including Ricci, continued to believe that they were ‘bringing’

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cattle-raids. For an exploration of the functions of diviners, see van der Jagt, Symbolic Structures in Turkana Religion, 54–61. See also Hans-Egil Hauge and David Westerlund, Turkana Religion and Folklore (Stockholm: University of Stockholm, 1986). An argument could also be made that the reason why missionaries did not make an impact was simply because the Chinese did not see the need to replace a religio-philosophical system that served them quite well. However, be that as it may, the controversy over the rites certainly did not help Christian evangelisation. See Young, ‘Chinese Views of Rites and the Rites Controversy, 18th– 20th Centuries’, 106. Though the church does not acknowledge any religious significance to the rites, Young cites the 1939 decree from the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith which ‘canceled the anti-rite oath as stipulated by the Bull of 1742 [...] and recognised the civil nature of ancestor worship and other related Chinese rites.’ See also Minamiki, The Chinese Rites Controversy, 205–222.

God, Jesus Christ, and the Gospel to others and, by doing so, they were performing a great favour in offering salvation. The lesson that should be learned from this is that the ‘seeds of the Gospel’ are already present in a given culture. By building upon this truth, Christian evangelisation is transformed and missionaries no longer think that they are ‘bringing’ the Gospel for the first time. These seeds can provide a way for the vision of God’s reign, as revealed by Jesus Christ, to become rooted within any diverse culture without this vision of faith being perceived as an imposition. I mentioned earlier how the lifestyle of a missionary was a major issue for Ricci and his companion missionaries. How is lifestyle interpreted within different cultures? Should a missionary today dress and dine appropriately according to different cultures as a sign of being in solidarity with these cultures? Dressing like a Turkana nomad who only wears a shuka (a single cloth) is not always practical for Western missionaries under a very hot sun. The wearing of beads, skins, feathers, a mud skull cap, and the carrying of a spear by Westerners might be perceived by the local people as disrespectful of Turkana traditions instead of venerating their customs. Eating Turkana local food poses a particular problem for health reasons. Some of this food is uncooked such as blood and milk from the animals. However, from my own experience, it is important to eat food that is offered because not to do so can offend the host. I found this part of interculturation the most difficult aspect of evangelisation within the Turkana context because of the serious health risks involved not only for me but also for the Turkana. Nevertheless, despite this practical problem, on a philosophical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual level, I was able to engage and be with the Turkana people. Interculturation will vary from culture to culture and there are vast differences of location, economics, world view, and so on that need consideration. Ricci’s effort was limited to the elite within Chinese society and this methodology cannot be offered as a solution in every context. Nevertheless, what Ricci attempted in China with regard to embracing aspects of the culture and Chinese philosophy can be adapted to what is going on today within the Turkana culture and religious experience. However, I would argue that for Ricci the culture gap between himself and his literate confucionists was far narrower 199

than my own missionary life among the Turkana. For instance, the Chinese prepared their food well and it must be noted Ricci dined among the wealthy and the privileged literati. Food and drink issues are significant personal aspects of life for all people and require respect and sensitivity without endangering the health of the missionary. As well as engaging on the level of hospitality, there is another level of sharing within any evangelising encounter. There is the level of translation. The Christian faith is translated from different languages that not only influences local cultures, but also impacts the living and expression of the Christian faith. Through these social and religious exchanges cultural and religious congruity emerges to enable a meaningful search for shared understanding between diverse cultures and traditions. The symbolic expressions of God’s reign within the Turkana culture will be different from the way accumulated Christian culture has described the message and vision of the Gospel. That is to say, Jesus, who became the risen Christ reveals this vision in a unique way for Christians. It is important to state that in assessing the life-giving aspects of the Turkana expression of God’s reign, it is the people themselves who name what is life-giving.70 It needs to be consistently affirmed that spiritual graces, discovered through particular good ancestors, mediators, animal sacrifices, initiation rites, and rituals, etc., sustain the Turkana’s context of cultural and religious meaningmaking. For instance, when the emuron uses a special clay to anoint sick people and animals, it is believed that the ancestors will be called upon to bless and cure them. The special clay is found on the mountains or in certain river-beds where the ancestors are believed to live and provides a tangible link with the living community.

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For people to name what is life-giving in their culture may indeed require the help of a prophet: one who has a capacity to assist another to see what may be life-giving for men is not so for women. Within the focused conversations to assess life-giving and destructive elements, the role of prophecy can be shared by both outsiders and insiders. Someone outside a culture, like a missionary, can see the elements of that culture differently. Likewise, an insider in a culture can perceive diverse aspects of the outsider’s culture.

While some aspects of the indigenous religious traditions and customs may reflect characteristics of God’s reign, it is essential to point out that there are some inherent contradictions within the symbolic nature of the Turkana meaning-making system, such as the treatment and exclusion of women. The exclusion of women from various public rites of passage and the organised social structure of the society indicates embodiments of the anti-Reign of God existing within the religious cultural system. For instance, we saw earlier how few women became ancestors and if a woman is not married or cannot have children, she is excluded and even considered not fully human. Men, too, who do not own animals, particularly cattle and are not married can be subject to accusations of witchcraft and are considered not fully human. These aspects of the culture need evaluation and critique in order to be transformed to reflect inclusivity and the possibility of life and justice for all. This observation is equally true for the Christian culture and tradition as it recognises the limits of its cultural expression of God’s vision through an array of inherited religious and cultural symbols that discriminate against women. Some Christian religious beliefs have limited the religious roles for women especially in regard to the celebration of sacraments. Rendering God as exclusively male rather than as inclusive of both female and male has been and continues to be problematic for the Christian tradition. However, within an empathic, conversational dialogue between Christian culture and Turkana indigenous culture, the positive life-giving elements that reflect Gospel vision can be affirmed. Aspects of constructed culture and religious expression that are antithetical to God’s reign can be addressed in order to imagine a possible future without incompatible elements. For the Turkana, there exists a symbiotic relationship between their religious symbols and their cultural way of life as described earlier. This relationship names and circumscribes who the Turkana are and their particular orientation for life.71 The Turkana culture and

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See John Lamphear, ‘Aspects of “Becoming Turkana”: Interactions and Assimilation between Maa-and-Ateker Speakers’, in Thomas Spear and Richard Waller, eds., Being Maasai: Ethnicity and Identity in East Africa (London:

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indigenous religious perspective becomes the primary framework in which to filter and explain different experiences encountering their world view. Issues relating to the life-force like illness, disease, death, birth, and aging, etc. are all interpreted through the lens of their constructed religious experience. In addition, external cultural, economic, religious, and political influences are critiqued, affirmed or rejected through this indigenous way of knowing the world. Throughout the filtering process, change is taking place which inevitably influences and transforms previous ways of knowing the world. Such transformation should be sensitive to the essential integrity of the Turkana indigenous world view. That is to say, the elements in the culture that promote life such as the respect for ancestors, the work of the diviner, and the influence of Akuj, inter alia, should continue to reflect the essential integrity of the Turkana indigenous perspective. For the Turkana, a different sense of what it means to be in relationship among themselves, with others, the earth, and God emerges that maintains a vital connection to the veracity of their identity in the past. Within their particular context of suffering and oppression, there is an authentic desire for human freedom that traverses the boundaries of their culture and religion.

C. Transformative Interaction between the Christian World View and Turkana World View God is Relational Life-giving transformation between the horizon of meaning with the Christian story and that of the Turkana world view can happen when there is a common ground of understanding. For example, since the Turkana people exist within a communal relational structure, the Christian symbol of the Trinity provides a solid foundation for a James Currey, 1993), 87–104. See also van der Jagt, Symbolic Structures in Turkana Religion, 62–71.

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shared public theology that speaks of a liberating, relational God. The relational nature of a trinitarian God manifests a God who is deeply involved in the communal affairs of people. Through the relationality encompassed in the symbol of Trinity, God becomes a relational being and human beings exist not only as individuals but as interacting communitarian persons in relationship with one another and the triune God.72 The incarnation event embodies, in a specific way, a relational God participating in the joys and sufferings of humankind. The Christian theological view of God as relational and active in human affairs can find deep resonance within the Turkana people’s communal consciousness. According to John Mbiti, an African will define his or her self as existing only in relation to community. ‘I am because we are, and since we are therefore I am’ becomes the definition of self.73 For the Turkana who understand God as Akuj, the ‘owner of all things’, God is in constant relationship with the temporal affairs of the community. The people’s human experience is interpreted to reveal the transcendent reality of a relational God. From the Turkana perspective, this means that the ancestors, animals, sacrifices, and rituals performed, all enable specific interpretations to emerge that show Akuj is in a living relationship and interacts in a loving way with the human affairs of the Turkana. All of this cultural and religious material is symbolic for the people. Such bodily corporeality provides a significant link to a higher plane of transcendent reality. This contextualisation of God provides the basis for a transformative faith formation. Faith Formation Educating in faith toward God’s reign is itself symbolic and uses symbolic language, concepts, images, questions, and stories, etc., to point to something greater than itself, transformation toward the Infin72 73

See Michael J. Himes and Kenneth R. Himes, Fullness of Faith: The Public Significance of Theology (New York and Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1993), 56–61. John Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy (Second ed., Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1990), 219.

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ite Reality. For example, a local artist was commissioned to paint the Christian last supper. The Turkana artist painted the picture according to the philosophical contours of his own traditional religious beliefs. In the picture Jesus, portrayed as an emuron (diviner) holding up a leg of goat-meat, speaks to his disciples and presents them with the food of eternal life. His disciples, all male and traditionally dressed in the Turkana style, surround him. The youngest disciple, John, tends the fire on which the life-giving meat cooks. This particular painting along with others illustrating the details of Jesus’ life, his passion, his death and his resurrection, are placed around the walls of the local churches. The significance of this art for faith formation is in its specific contextuality. This imaginative art emerges from the cultural sensibility of the local people. It does not reflect European or other ethnic African images of Jesus and his message. It is essentially an authentic Turkana expression of Christian faith which carries universal meaning. Believing in a benevolent Akuj, the Turkana perception of God is congruent with the Christian view of an incarnated, relational, and unconditionally loving God. The possibility of perceiving a deeper understanding of Akuj as loving and caring becomes possible through sharing faith experiences and participating in various Turkana indigenous and Christian rituals. Moreover, within the context of sharing faith, perceptions of Akuj as a punishing God, rooted, for example, in the social condition of perpetual famine, can be explored. These perceptions can be transformed by signs of change in the fortunes of the Turkana on social, economic and religious levels. Thus, through concrete experiences within their history, the Turkana, and the missionaries among them, rediscover Akuj as always benevolent. This is particularly highlighted through rituals of reconciliation. A Rite of Reconciliation Evangelisation as interculturation envisions ways in which both the Turkana world view and the Christian vision not only share faith, but also propose for each other new expressions of that faith. The following is an example of interculturation, from my experience among the 204

Turkana, that created space for a new religious identity and formation in faith to emerge both for Christianity and the Turkana indigenous religion. While there are many examples, I choose reconciliation as an example of the dynamic interaction between the two world views. The process of forgiveness and reconciliation is ritualised within the Turkana context in such a way that it evokes the people’s faith in Akuj through symbols from their culture and religious experience. The Christian story and world view of reconciliation is shared through the mutual exchange of life-giving symbols (e.g. Is.1:17–18, Ps.51, and the story of the prodigal son, Lk.15:11–32). Integrating some of the cultural material from the Turkana cultural setting with Christian cultural material advanced a new expression of Christian and Turkana indigenous religious faith. The skin of an ox was placed in the centre of the church during the entire ceremony of reconciliation. A blend of Traditional and Christian songs were sung with sincerity and passion. Readings from the Judeo-Christian tradition (Is.1:17–18 and Lk.15:11–32) were shared by the catechist. Psalm 51 was intoned by a cantor and the people responded in chorus. This psalm spoke to the particular need for forgiveness, invoking God to ‘create a clean heart’ (v.10) in the people who were constantly on the edge of death because of famine. It was a plea for God to intervene in their suffering as they atone for their sins. I gave a short homily that made connections with the life of the community. At one point, traditional religious prayers were spoken and the people interacted with the prayer leader. This was referred to as the agatakin. An older man, an elder (Ekasukout) conducted the prayers on behalf of the community. Standing and holding a spear, he usually invoked Akuj and the ancestors (Ngikaram) to bless all the people present and then he petitioned Akuj for rain, animals, and children, etc. The people responded in chorus eh, iteni (yes, it is true). The leader also commanded the evil spirits to disappear by saying Ngipian toesikanye (leave us evil spirits). Responding in chorus and raising their arms, the people say eeh, kape (yes, go). Later in the celebration the people came in groups of four or five and knelt on the sacred skin for a few moments. I, as priest, on behalf of the people of God, prayed the words of absolution and sprinkled 205

cool water on the group as a sign of forgiveness and recalling their baptism. Water is a very important source of life for the people in this desert along with the green leaves from the esekon tree. The leaves were dipped into a trough (atubwa) filled with water to sprinkle lavishly on those seeking reconciliation. As a powerful symbol of life (coolness) for the Turkana, water becomes a religious symbol to ritualise blessing and forgiveness. The Paschal candle was lit as a sign of Christ’s redeeming power through his life, death, and resurrection. The process of reconciliation incorporated all the life-giving elements of the Turkana culture. Not only do the Turkana religious cultural elements indicate cohesion of the society but they manifested the people’s deepest desires for Akuj and union with the ancestors. A new cultural identity and religious consciousness was created in light of the profound ‘boundary crossing’ experiences between the Christian narrative and the Turkana narrative.74 Though the Christian ritual of reconciliation within the Turkana religious culture elicited a powerful image for embodying and expressing faith in God (Akuj), it also revealed an essential value reflected in the reign of God. That is to say, the capacity to forgive, as articulated in the Gospel, underpins the meaning of right relationship with God. The Turkana religious world view is shaped and enhanced by this insight into reconciliation. If the Christian form of reconciliation is experienced as sufficient for the Turkana, perhaps the need for animal sacrifices to create conditions for harmony and life-giving relationship with Akuj could be re-evaluated or re-interpreted.75 Though the concept of resurrection from the dead is absent from the Turkana religious world view, the Christian perspective of life after death can enrich this outlook. Through the lighting of the Paschal candle, symbol of Jesus’ life, 74

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For more information on the significance of development of Christian identity by means of a cultural boundary, see Kathryn Tanner, Theories of Culture: A New Agenda For Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997), 104–119. This is a sensitive issue for some cultures. However, since animals are at the centre of life for the Turkana people, perhaps instead of killing an animal to sacrifice it, the animal could be given to another poorer person as a gift to enhance that person’s life and dignity. A sacrifice is made. This approach offers a way to re-interpret the traditional sacrifice. The decision lies with the Turkana as they reflect upon their tradition and the Christian tradition over time.

death, and resurrection, the Turkana’s perspective on the work of the diviners and their role as mediators can be evaluated, enriched, and transformed. Conversely, the Christian world view is shaped and improved through the Turkana’s spiritual view of creation and their consistent religious respect for their ancestors. In a sense, the ancestors live on without the need to be resurrected to act as guides and emissaries.76 The Turkana, and other African ethnic groups, are particularly attentive to the role the good ancestral spirits play in the formation of a peaceful and just world of life-giving relationships. This can enhance a Christian theology of creation as well as enrich the Christian concept of the Communion of Saints. Such an enrichment happens when Christianity fully lets go of a dualism between the spirit world and the temporal world and can ritualise more frequently the connections between those who have died and those who are living. Particular guiding myths in relation to what happens to those that die need to be transformed. For example, the Turkana and Africans generally, see their dead as very much living in their midst, where as Christians tend to see the dead as separate from the living and gone to some heavenly place. Guiding Myths Re-interpretation and appropriation of guiding myths is at the core of an intercultural faith exchange. As mentioned earlier, the Turkana view of marriage and having children seems to be the only way that life is transmitted. The belief does not take into account the possibility that unmarried people and those who cannot have children can also share life and their gifts in the community.77 Instead, these members 76 77

This could form the basis for a fundamental critique of the Christian understanding of ‘physical’ resurrection. The notion of a celibate lifestyle would conflict with the Turkana tradition. However, as a missionary priest living among the Turkana, my celibate lifestyle reflected other possible ways to be in life-giving relationship besides marriage and having physical children. In a sense, I had children because of my pastoral and spiritual role among the people. In this way I was connected to the life-

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are ostracised and denied entry to the ancestor cult. This guiding tradition needs transformation in order to include the unmarried and childless as good ancestors. The Turkana story and its world view for life consists of certain dominant myths concerning the relationship between themselves, Akuj, and their world of animals and plants. Included in this story is the myth of why God seems far away and causes ‘coolness’ to be replaced by a terrible heat that brings drought conditions in the area. We can see similar parallels in the Christian story of the Fall (Gen. 3:1–24). However, the Turkana believe that at one time God was very near because God sent much rain and there was plenty of grass for the animals. The women have been blamed for sending God far away because they used ‘shaped sticks’ to push the sky away from the earth. God is perceived as being in the sky. According to the myth, this act by the women caused the present drought conditions.78 There are similarities in the Hebrew Scriptures of how a particular narrative in the Book of Genesis cites the woman as responsible for tempting the man (Gen.3:12). Some African traditional religions have similar commanding myths that perpetuate patriarchy and subjugation of the woman within their cultures. Mercy Oduyoye observes that myths form certain attitudes among men and women. Such constructed myths provide a structure for the society to function in a particular way that is not inclusive of all, particularly women. She writes, Myths inform social activities, shape men’s and women’s lives and attitudes, and give expression to people’s fears. Creation myths, for example, are replete with imagery that echoes of how society functions, of the nature of social relations relating to families, the economy, the running of the community. 79

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force of the Turkana indigenous religious tradition. Such a view indicates an interpretive flexibility within the Turkana religious tradition to accept others who make different relational choices. For a detailed account of the Turkana narrative of the Fall, see Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy, 79. See Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Daughters of Anowa: African Women and Patriarchy (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1995), 19–36.

Within many African traditional religions, and the Turkana indigenous religion is no exception, there is a strong prejudice against women. Such a prejudice is deeply woven within some dominant myths that interact with the deep meaning structures of a society. Even within the patrimony of Christian culture, a bias against women continues to be evidenced and perpetuated within the visible institutions and theological constructions of the Christian religion. The myths have been constructed by men who tend to put themselves in a better light as regards their sincerity and integrity toward fulfilling the plan of God. African religious myths and the Christian myth of the Fall need a new inclusive interpretation to address the subjugation of women. Thus, Christian faith can be engaged to critique not only Turkana’s chauvinistic myths, but also Christian faith can offer critiques of the ecclesial structures of Christianity in which this faith has been shaped throughout its history. There is no doubt but that the patrimony of the Turkana myths can remind Christians to critique their own and seek transformation of them to reflect life and justice for all. The aim always is to seek the Gospel of life rather than replacing one set of exclusive religious myths with another. The re-interpretation of particular destructive myths, like blaming women for the evil in the world, may be evoked through a sustained intercultural religious education. Such an education/formation would uncover the shadows of the anti-Reign of God contained both in the Christian and Turkana religious traditions. New guiding myths need to be imagined and embodied in practices that preserve the equal dignity of both men and women in this particular religious and cultural context. This process of interculturation may lead to re-imagining the Christian and Turkana religious traditions for life-giving personal and social inclusivity. Language, mentioned earlier, plays a crucial and foundational role in this process. In conclusion, undergirding a mutual exchange process between Christianity and the Turkana religious tradition is the mutual capacity for a respectful conversation. Reciprocal life-giving meaning emerges when both traditions can hear and observe the presence and activity of God’s universal Spirit reflected in each cultural embodiment.

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The next chapter describes a pedagogical methodology for meaningful conversation which attends to fostering partnership for political, religious, and social action. This partnership envisions the possibility of creating life-giving religious and spiritual relationships in today’s world. A suitable paradigm for engaging cultural diversity and religious plurality is essential to bring about personal and communal integration.

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Chapter Six The Pedagogical Methodology of Interculturation

Introduction If the Gospel, like all religious experience and vision, is always embodied in a culture, then there is no way to make contact between what is valuable and good in the Gospel and what is valuable and good in a another religion except through a crosscultural, intercultural conversation. –Paul F. Knitter1

Throughout this book, I have been probing the concept of religious and theological interculturation. I have surveyed especially within chapters three, four, and five how this evangelising and religious interculturation evolves and is shaped by different contexts, religious world views, and time frames within the chronicle of Christian evangelisation. I now address a pedagogical methodology by which an intercultural and interreligious conversational praxis might proceed. The application of the case-study of the Turkana, the pioneering efforts of Ricci in China, and the encounter of the historical Jesus with the Samaritan and Syrophoenician women fund a new paradigm for an intercultural Christian evangelisation. To uncover the life-giving as well as the dehumanising aspects between the accumulated Christian patrimony and, for example, the Turkana indigenous religious world view, conversation is a quintessential factor. In this chapter, I first look at the nature of religious interculturation. This exploration includes outlining my philosophy of intercultural Christian religious evangelisation grounded in Paulo Freire’s vision of empowerment. Humanisation and the announcing of the ‘good news’ interculturally and interreligiously is achieved through 1

Paul F. Knitter, Jesus and the Other Names: Christian Mission and Global Responsibility (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1996), 152.

action and reflection upon the action. Such a paradigm leads to creating a pedagogy of interculturation. In the second section of the chapter, I explore the purpose of a religiously intercultural conversation that aims at sifting human experience for spiritual insights. In subsequent sub-sections, I offer suggestions for the role of pastoral agents in promoting intercultural conscientisation and intercultural discernment that should avoid any form of domesticating interculturation, which could stifle human freedom and the quest for wisdom. Lastly, the third section attempts to understand an interreligious conversational praxis within communities of faith. The principles for interculturation are emphasised and a curriculum of interculturation profiled in which I propose six evolutions for a respectful and focused conversation. Such an intentional conversation has the objective of discovering shared power within a conducive, safe environment.

A. The Nature of Religious/Theological Interculturation Philosophy Undergirding my philosophy of intercultural Christian religious evangelisation is the assumption that when I evangelise,2 I am educating and performing a political and religious action in the world.3 This activity is not only instituted within a given culture but the religious and political strategies implemented also have consequences for different cultures and religious world views. The evangelising process, 2 3

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See Pope Paul VI, Evangelisation in the Modern World (Evangelii Nuntiandi) (Vatican, 1975), # 49–58. See also # 18–24. See Thomas H. Groome, Christian Religious Education: Sharing our Story and Vision (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1980), 21. Groome defines education activity as ‘a political activity with pilgrims in time that deliberately and intentionally attends with people to our present, to the past heritage it embodies, and to the future possibility it holds for the total person and community.’

which purposely educates toward the vision of the Gospel, seeks to influence people within a community embedded in a culture. Even when rooted in a particular diverse religious tradition, evangelising education can directly and indirectly form and transform humankind as persons-in-relationship.4 Such an evangelisation occurs through cultural and religious interaction which confronts, affirms, and revisions religious faith toward reshaping cultural identities for common ethical pursuits.5 I propose that in a collaborative, conversational intercultural and interreligious praxis, the principles of the Gospel, i.e., love, justice, solidarity, peace, equality, human freedom, human dignity, and reconciliation, etc., can be unveiled and recognised within different cultures and diverse religious viewpoints.6 For instance, within the Christian 4

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See Thomas H. Groome, Sharing Faith: A comprehensive Approach to Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1991), 11–14. Groome suggests that ‘Education in Christian faith clearly should shape the lives of people as agent-subjects in right relationship with God, self, other people, and all creation’ (13). See also Maria Harris, Teaching and Religious Imagination (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1987), 79–96. Harris argues that ‘Teaching, when seen as an activity of religious imagination, is an act of incarnating subject matter in ways which (or in order to) reveal subject matter so that subjects, in communion with each other, are able to exercise power: the capacity and ability to act receptively intelligently, humanly, responsibly, and religiously in transforming the universe’ (88). See Hans Küng, Global Responsibility: In Search of a New World Ethic, trans. John Bowden (New York: Continuum, 1991), xvii. Küng explores in this text ways in which a common world ethic could be found which individual religions and others responsible in all sectors of society could subscribe to for the survival of humankind. He proposes firstly ‘That an increasing number of specialists from the individual religions and from ethics collaborate in creating or sharpening awareness of a global ethic through shared study of the sources, historical analyses, systematic evaluation and political and social diagnosis.’ Secondly, he advocates ‘that those responsible in all sectors of our society set about involving themselves both theoretically and practically, with all their energies, in this theme of “an ethic for the world”, which is so important for human survival.’ Eugene Hillman, Toward an African Christianity: Inculturation Applied (New York and Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1993), 50. Hillman advocates that, in relation to the ability of African traditional religions to convey God’s presence, ‘a more positive appreciation of their traditional religion may be gained when this is

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tradition, the dignity, uniqueness, and sacredness of each human person is foundational for a religious/political evangelising approach to the understanding of human life in all cultures and religious perspectives. Within an African world view such as that of the Turkana of Kenya, the promotion of human life and the dignity of every human being revolves around the understanding of kinship, marriage, birth, and children which are named and celebrated through various rituals.7 As I discussed earlier in chapter five, initiation rites play a very important role in educating participants in the Turkana cultural context toward comprehending and appropriating the importance of how human life and dignity is embodied. For them, marriage is the usual way through which the life force of the community is preserved. Magesa notes that If the purpose of initiation is to impress upon the initiate the centrality of life in all of the affairs of humanity, and the human person’s relationship to the universe, marriage is understood universally in African Religion to be the institution that makes possible the practical expression of the cherished fecundity. It

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seen as a culturally integrated system for commemorating and celebrating God’s gift of life.’ He further claims ‘Their religion, no less than any other authentic religious system, is a creation of the analogical imagination of the people in a world inundated with grace.’ See also Joseph Healy and Donald Sybertz, Toward an African Narrative Theology (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1996), 25. These authors suggest ‘Christ is already present in African culture. Missionaries do not bring him to Africa. People find him here. As the Logos of God, Jesus Christ has planted many seeds of his Word in African Traditional Religion.’ Therefore, it will be through a methodology of conversation and religious/cultural practice which will identify the gospel already present in the culture. This activity will move toward collaboratively establishing the ‘not yet’ vision of the gospel story. John Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1990), 107–117. Mbiti observes that ‘A child not only continues the physical line of life, being in some societies thought to be a reincarnation of the departed, but becomes the intensely religious focus of keeping the parents in their state of personal immortality’ (117). He concludes that ‘The physical aspects of birth and the ceremonies that might accompany pregnancy, birth and childhood, are regarded with religious feeling and experience – that another religious being has been born into a profoundly religious community and religious world’ (117).

is the acceptable social structure for transmitting life, the life that preserves the vital force of humans, families, and clans.8

The sharing of the Gospel vision on the dignity of all persons irrespective of marital status assumes an ability to journey with diverse peoples through every day struggles within their culture and to respect their particular personal and communal religious experiences.9 Yet, at the same time, there is the challenge to empower people to critique the non life-giving components of their beliefs so that these beliefs are transformed to reflect the vision of dignity and life manifested in the Gospel.10 I believe that a capacity to be with people in their awakening to their own history, cultural development, and evolving religious and political experience can be learned through a process of conscientisation and empowerment as advanced by Paulo Freire.

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Laurenti Magesa, African Religion: The Moral Traditions of Abundant Life (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1997), 115. Magesa observes that ‘African marriage is ultimately anchored in God, the main sustainer of life and the principal preserver and transmitter of the vital force’ (122). It is important to note certain drawbacks in the promotion of life through marriage only. Those that are unmarried both women and men and who cannot have children may find it difficult to have their dignity recognised within the African social structure. Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (New York: Continuum, 1970), 74. Freire suggests that ‘Authentic education is not carried on by “A” for “B” or by “A” about “B,” but rather by “A” with “B” mediated by the world – a world which impresses and challenges both parties, giving rise to views or opinions about it.’ Lamin Sanneh, Encountering the West: Christianity and the Global Cultural Process (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1993), 234. Sanneh contends that ‘intercultural communication is necessary in order to transcend the implicit ethnocentrism of superior cultural detachment, still the old unilateralism under which we propagated ideal or bestial images of each other.’ He further posits that ‘Cultural recognition can hardly be separated from qualitative appreciation and judgment.’

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Freire’s Vision of Empowerment The methodology for religious interculturation that I propose is shaped and informed by Freire’s vision of personal and communal empowerment. Rooted in his own Brazilian culture, Freire, as an educator, offers universal inspiration and continues to influence the process of personal and social transformation in many parts of the world, including Africa. Freire, during his exile from his own country was involved, among other initiatives, with the reconstruction of Guinea Bissau in West Africa. This small African nation was recovering from an era of Portuguese colonisation in which the people experienced a loss of their history, culture, and identity.11 The kind of domination experienced by the population was a domesticating, cultural subjugation that denied the truth and validity of the Guinean culture, religious experience, and socio-political history. Fundamental to recovering from such an infringement to the personhood of the Guinean people was empowering them through literacy education. This would initiate a process enabling the people to reclaim their own history in a language that touched the deepest recesses of themselves reflected through their unique African culture and indigenous religious experience. Thus, people’s inalienable dignity and their humanity as persons-in-community could be promoted and sustained. Consequently, the mutuality and reciprocity of life-giving interculturation could be restored so that meaningful and transformative humanisation always permeates the intentionality of the politics of an intercultural education and socialisation.12

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See Paulo Freire, Pedagogy in Process, Letters to Guinea Bissau (New York: Seabury Press, 1978), 5–68. Despite Freire’s intentions in assisting the reconstruction of Guinea Bissau through literacy education, this tiny west African country continues to experience political and economic turmoil today. Much of sub-Saharan Africa is embroiled in various ethnic conflicts in the wake of colonialism. A quality intercultural education can play a crucial role in empowering African people to imagine an alternative future.

Humanisation Within every cultural and historical context, Freire viewed the process of empowerment among people as a political activity of humanisation through conscientisation within specific historical and cultural contexts; naming the present action through insights from the past that inspire toward a future of hope and possibility.13 For Freire, conscientisation meant ‘learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions, and to take action against the oppressive elements of reality.’14 That is to say, in relation to religious intercultural conscientisation, the dehumanising attributes of culture and religious experience are called into critical conversation so that the weight of the Gospel can transform them into meaningful life for all. For the Gospel vision within different cultural and religious experiences to take root, it is necessary to critically examine the paradoxes such as the cultural and religious myths surrounding sin, God, authority, participation, etc., contained within each religious and cultural claim. Then, the vision of life for all contained in the Gospel can penetrate to transform these incongruities into life-giving realities for all seeking the fullness of human life. For example, the exclusion of women from the initiation ritual of asapan within the Turkana culture can be an opportunity for conscientisation for inclusion. The constructed narrative or myth by which a person or community lives is sometimes put in place by dominant cultural forces such as the patriarchal, male forces within Turkana. Such organising and guiding narratives situate Turkana women as responsible for the distance between Akuj and the people’s historical reality of perpetual drought. These constructed myths can be re-imagined and a reflective reinterpretation conducted to illustrate a more equal responsibility for human weakness and vulnerability.15 The challenge of mutuality and recipro13

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Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 48. Freire proposes that ‘Reflection and action become imperative when one does not erroneously attempt to dichotomize the content of humanity from its historical forms.’ Ibid., 17 fn. 1. See Teresa M. Hinga, ‘Jesus Christ and the Liberation of Women in Africa’, in Mercy Amba Oduyoye and Musimbi R. A. Kanyoro, eds., The Will To Arise: Women, Tradition, and the Church in Africa (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis

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city within an intentional conversation lies in reconstructing guiding myths through reinterpreting them with others such as the Turkana and the Christian tradition. The story of the Fall in relation to the behaviour of both Adam and Eve (Gen.3:1–24) within the Judeo/Christian tradition can be reinterpreted along with the parallel narrative of the Fall among the Turkana using the principles of the Gospel. This different interpretation needs to include the dignity of both women and men as equal partners who are equally responsible for their own lives as well as stewards of all given to them by God, their creator. If all within a culture are not consulted as to how guiding myths should be reconstructed so that humanisation is universal and meaningful for all, then myths are fundamentally flawed and can alienate and exclude. Action and reflection upon action are necessary to avoid literal interpretation of exclusive myths which lead to irresponsible behaviour that dehumanises human persons. Action and Reflection Freire writes, ‘Authentic liberation – the process of humanisation – is not another deposit to be made in men (humankind). Liberation is a praxis: the action and reflection of men and women upon their world in order to transform it.’16 The liberator Freire exhibits a lack of consciousness in relation to exclusive language in his earlier writing but in his later work, he corrected his language to be inclusive of women. Freire suggests, in relation to men and women’s dehumanisation,

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Books, 1992) 183–195. Hinga, from an African Christian perspective, attempts a reflection ‘on the implications of belief in Christ in the context of African women’s search for liberation.’ For a look at the role of women in ritual in Africa see Mercy Amba Oduyoye, ‘Women and Ritual in Africa’, in The Will to Arise, 9–23. Oduyoye draws attention to religion as being oppressive to women in Africa. She notes that ‘If women more often than men find themselves in weaker roles in religion and ritual, they will require more attention if they are to be enabled and empowered toward full participation according to their innate abilities and acquired skills’ (19). Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 60.

Throughout history, we men and women become special animals indeed, then. We invent the opportunity of setting ourselves free to the extent that we become able to perceive as unconcluded, limited, conditioned, historical beings. Especially, we invent the opportunity of setting ourselves free by perceiving, as well, that the sheer perception of inconclusion, limitation, opportunity, is not enough. To the perception must be joined the political struggle for the transformation of the world. The liberation of individuals acquires profound meaning only when the transformation of society is achieved.17

This process of humanisation for Christians is viewed through the ideal of the Reign of God that is uncovered through various evangelising activities that are informative, formative, and transformative of culture within the transient nature of history.18 Drawing on Freire’s wisdom and vision for transformative education, the political struggle of Christian evangelisation needs to continue so that the ideal of God’s reign can be discovered and sustained by all. Activities that attempt to determine and understand God’s intention of right relationship for all include prayer, preaching, catechesis, scripture study, social justice advocacy, worship practices, and interreligious collaboration. All these aim toward a spiritual and cultural formation for the wellbeing of everyone. These form part of action and reflection toward making present the vision of the Gospel. The vision of the Gospel is unveiled within the cultural and religious materials in which 17

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Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of Hope (New York: Continuum, 1992), 99–100. See also Freire, Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 1998), 103. Freire observes that ‘The recently proclaimed death of history, which symbolizes the death of utopia, of our right to dream, reinforces without doubt the claims that imprison our freedom. This makes the struggle for the restoration of utopia all the more necessary. Educational practice itself, as an experience in humanisation, must be impregnated with this ideal.’ Groome, Sharing Faith, 8. Drawing on the philosophy of Heidegger, Groome suggests that ‘an “ontological turn” in our pedagogy encourages educators to engage and inform, form, and transform the very “being” of people in the world.’ Such an approach proposes that we are agents in relationship within a historical reality as well as the belief that we are in relationship with something more than ourselves and our temporal world. The complexity of faith is such that we discover the gift and the truth about ourselves, others, creation, and God through relationships that are life-giving.

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God’s universal spirit is present and active.19 The unearthing of the Gospel within contexts that are non-Christian, such as among the Turkana, occurs through mutual conversation and shared social action within both the Turkana traditional religious experience and the Christian tradition. Though these traditions are different, Gospel values such as meaningful relationships, justice, love, peace, reconciliation, forgiveness, and so on, can be uncovered and shared without distorting the essential identity of both traditions. The Gospel traverses and interpenetrates cultures and diverse religious perspectives that transcend the specific particularities of the context. Thus, the Gospel is eventually understood in a new way as it is acted on and reflected upon within a mutual and reciprocal partnership within communities of believers. Such a conception of God’s reign finds expression through a diversity which enriches the specificity of religious perspectives engaged in discovering the beauty, mystery, and transcendence of the face of an intercultural and interreligious God. God’s intention of life for all revealed through Christian tradition and Turkana indigenous religion is announced as good news for all. Announcing Good News Interculturally and Interreligiously Through a paradigm of prophetic lived faith in the Gospel vision that denounces injustice and oppression and announces freedom and hope,20 there emerges a structure that under girds authentic Christian 19

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Pope John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio (Vatican, 1990), # 28. John Paul II posits that ‘The Spirit manifests himself in a special way in the Church and in her members. Nevertheless, his presence and activity are universal, limited neither by space nor time.’ See Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 62. Freire proposes that ‘Education as the practice of freedom – as opposed to education as the practice of domination – denies that man (woman) is abstract, isolated, independent, and unattached to the world; it also denies that the world exists as a reality apart from people. Authentic reflection considers neither abstract man (woman) nor the world without people, but people in their relations with the world.’ Evangelisation toward the vision of the gospel among cultures and in partnership with diverse religious world views can be perceived in a similar fashion.

evangelisation that is both Christian and interreligious in its vision of salvation.21 Such a framework relies on partnership within a multifaith and interdependent world that censures what is considered stifling to the life force for genuine humanisation within cultures and religious perspectives. The process becomes a mutual endeavour between Christian missionaries and the participants of various cultures and religions. Each must be free to critique the other in order to announce the human freedom revealed by an intercultural and transcultural God. For Christians, the face of such an intercultural God was revealed through the historical Jesus who became resurrected to manifest hope and meaning for all. The profound mystery of the face of God who traverses all cultures and religions can be more fully understood through partnership with other religious world views. For example, the function of the diviner (emuron) and the role of the ‘living dead’ (ancestors) within the Turkana religious structure can be a basis for discovering a God we have yet to fully know and embrace as revealer of the Gospel. I suggest that a pedagogy of interculturation will assist in coming to know a God yet to be fully known. Pedagogy of Interculturation An empowering intercultural Christian religious education, founded upon principles of partnership and mutuality, can access people’s hopes and dreams amidst dehumanising suffering, oppression, and marginalisation within every culture.22 Such a pedagogy is grounded within the concretisation of historical reality interculturally and midst 21

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For clarification of terms Christian and religious, see Gabriel Moran, Interplay (Winona, Minnesota: St. Mary’s Press, 1981), 15. See Paul F. Knitter, ‘Toward a Liberation Theology of Religions’, in John Hick and Paul F. Knitter, eds., The Myth of Christian Uniqueness: Toward a Pluralistic Theology of Religions (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1987), 178–200. Knitter posits ‘In light of the present state of our world [...] both basic humanitarian concerns as well as the soteriologies of most religions would seem to dictate that a preferential option for the poor and the nonperson constitutes both the necessity and the primary purpose of interreligious dialogue’ (181). Freire, Pedagogy of Hope, 8.

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the multiplicity of religious beliefs and practices. The process of universal humanisation can be imagined as various contextual issues such as poverty, hunger, animal sacrifices, the role of women, etc., are addressed interculturally. That is to say, no culture can address appropriately their own issues in isolation, they need the interaction of other cultural and religious encounters in order to see alternative visions that could enhance and enrich their own cultural experiences. For example, among the Turkana of Kenya debilitating abject poverty driven by domestic and global economic, political, and social inequalities is the central focus for life-giving religious interculturation. Such abject poverty is not for the Turkana alone to resolve but depends upon the collaboration of external cultural, religious, political and economic forces in an interdependency that forges collective responsibility for human wellbeing. Specifically, the humanisation process is sustained by a pedagogy of interculturation that includes intercultural and interreligious political actions such as action for justice, conscientisation programmes, worship practices, and formation in spirituality, etc., that lead people towards an alternative vision contained in what Christians call Gospel.23 For Freire, hope and dream gave impetus to the humanising vision whereby social conditions could be changed to allow a safe space or liberative zone to emerge for harmonising relationships to sustain human life and dignity.24 It was not an abstract, unrealistic space but a process, a journey that is rooted in history. Freire contends that ‘Dreaming is not only a necessary political act, it is an integral part of the historico-social manner of being a person.’25 For Christians, God’s reign, revealed through the words and actions of Jesus Christ, is symbolic of the fullness and freedom of humanity created in the image of God. Such a symbol is a sociopolitical 23

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I perceive political actions as being inclusive of both the Christian tradition and the Turkana traditional or indigenous perspective. I am proposing intercultural and interreligious collaboration toward manifesting the vision of the gospel as I understand it from a Christian religious standpoint. There is still ample opportunity for Christian catechesis that hands on and expresses within a specific context the Christian perspective of the gospel. See Freire, Pedagogy of Hope, 8–9. Ibid., 90.

dream of resurrection for every person. This vision signifies God acting within history and interculturally for genuine human freedom. It is a pedagogy that is grounded in human history and reveals a birthing of a new creation for the whole world. In chapter three, I discussed the interaction of Jesus with the Samaritan woman illustrating a methodology used both by Jesus and the Samaritan woman which had the capacity to convey the Gospel message within a different culture and at the same time transcended it. In the same chapter, the Syrophoenician woman’s pedagogical style of engagement respected the human experience of Jesus and yet she did not shy away from respectfully critiquing aspects of his culture and religious perspective that were limiting Jesus’ ability to see beyond. In many ways, a pedagogy of interculturation involves critically exploring myths, idols, biases, fears, and mandates in every cultural and religious context where human life is lived so that authentic human freedom is achieved. Human freedom is the essential purpose of religious interculturation.

B. The Purpose of Religious Interculturation Sifting Human Experience Critical reflection is necessary to examine the human experience of a particular historicity, culture, and social tradition, such as the Turkana,26 in order to name and understand present experience that contains new possibilities for change in the future.27 This reflection initiates 26

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Every context is unique and will require different analysis and interpretation. For example, a United States capitalistic society wherein the rich get richer and the poor are there by personal lack of will, according to certain strands of political leadership, needs an interpretation whereby the poor are empowered to participate and the rich are confronted to share their wealth. See Robert J. Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1985), 74. Schreiter asserts ‘Once the issue for theological reflection has been located within the sign system of the culture, one is ready to begin

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personal and communal appropriation for solid decision-making towards renewed action for humanisation within lived Gospel faith. This is to say, some of the elements such as the exclusion of women both within the Turkana and Christian tradition can be reflected upon and a decision made to respect the dignity of women.28 Freire argued that literacy was the key to being able to name the world. Not only did literacy constitute the skill of reading and writing, but it also required a literacy that included consciousness of the social, cultural, economic, religious, and political environment in which the word finds meaning.29 Within what Freire called ‘Culture Circles’30 is the place where worthwhile, specific knowledge is created and recreated in the process of humanisation. These culture circles referred to the existential reality in which people lived and interacted every day. They were also organised to facilitate a process for training teachers.

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the gospel dialogue with the larger church tradition.’ See also Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of Freedom, 124. Freire asserts ‘We cannot leave behind our critical consciousness. It must be always at hand, especially at critical moments.’ In relation to the nature of global communication, Freire alerts us to be aware of its power and he contends that ‘It requires of us that we be permanently alert, with a kind of epistemological consciousness.’ The same can be said for religious interculturation that seeks common ground for the humanisation of the world. See Teresa Okure, ‘The Will to Arise: Reflections on Luke 8: 40–56’, in The Will To Arise, 221–230. Okure offers a reinterpretation of Jesus’ interaction with women who touched him in a profound way as he ministered to various people. Paulo Freire and Donaldo Macedo, Literacy: Reading the Word and the World (Westport, Connecticut: Bergin and Garvey, 1987), 106. Freire contends that the broader view of literacy is understood as being ‘the relationship of learners to the world, mediated by the transforming practice of this world taking place in the very general social milieu in which learners travel, and also mediated by the oral discourse concerning this transforming practice. This understanding of literacy takes me to a notion of a comprehensive literacy that is necessarily political.’ See Freire, Education for Critical Consciousness (New York: Continuum, 1973), 42. Freire proposed that these ‘culture circles’ should have a coordinator instead of a teacher; ‘instead of lectures, dialogue; instead of pupils, group participants; instead of alienating syllabi, compact programs that were “broken down” and “codified” into learning units.’

They are not unlike the function of small Christian communities in which, from an ecclesiological perspective, evangelisation and the process of mutual intercultural activity could take place. For Freire, becoming fully human meant that literacy was not a mechanical act of reading and writing according to the bureaucracy of hegemonic cultures.31 Rather, it concerned the ability to write and rewrite one’s history, identity, spirituality, and culture in order to reclaim dignity and power; a history and dignity that may have been ignored by the so called prominent cultures and even some dominant religions such as Christianity. Missionaries perform an important task within Christian evangelisation in empowering those within oppressed cultures, who suffered immense human indignities at the hands of imperial powers, to seek new hope through developing opportunities for reconciliation and forgiveness. The Role of Missionary/Pastoral Agents Freire’s approach to literacy has implications for missionaries or pastoral agents who are ambassadors of the Gospel. Gospel literacy is grounded in a capacity to journey with people of diverse cultures who claim different religious standpoints. Missionaries themselves are diverse and come from different cultural and Christian perspectives. They each share a vision of what it means to be fully human. However, missionaries within cultures different from their own are invited and challenged to be leaders ‘always with the people, teaching and learning mutually in the liberation struggle.’32 This activity will be at the core of a life-giving interculturation. Missionaries, as representatives of the Gospel, are working with cultures and with a multiplicity of religious perspectives towards the horizon of God’s reign. They do this by prophetic evangelising methods which include teaching and witnessing by their lives to the vision of the Gospel. The missionary 31

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Paulo Freire, Literacy: Reading the Word and the World, 106. Freire wrote ‘Literacy cannot be reduced to experiences that are only a little creative, that treat the foundations of letters and words as a purely mechanical domain.’ Freire, Pedagogy in Process: The Letters to Guinea-Bissau, 18.

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disposition is one of tending to the birthing process of new growth in cultures. That is to say, missionaries are challenged to believe in and trust the culture’s potential for transformation; nurture and tend the ‘soil’ of their struggle; instruct and challenge when necessary; and most importantly, missionaries are called to ‘wait’ and let the grace of God establish the pace and natural rhythm of the birthing process. The purpose of this evangelising activity is political in that it encompasses personal and social transformation within the religious and historical experience of people. In many cases, this transformation is dependent upon strategies whereby people who have suffered various injustices have an opportunity to be reconciled. Even before reconciliation can be achieved, in many ‘tyrannical’ situations, the oppression must be first broken and a space created for the next step toward forgiveness and reconciliation. South Africa provides an example whereby the repressive system of Apartheid was shattered. Once liberation from Apartheid was secured, this led to the initiation of a Truth Commission to allow people to tell their stories and ask and receive forgiveness for atrocities committed against them as well as for atrocities they engaged in with others. Intrinsic to the process is relevant action against oppressive or dehumanising ideologies so that freedom becomes a reality for the economically poor and those disenfranchised. A pedagogy of interculturation may lead people toward the utopia33 that is the Reign of God. It is not a neutral process. Freire was 33

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It seems that Freire views utopia as a specific place where there will exist perfect harmony. Hope is related to utopia according to John L. Elias of Fordham University writing about Paulo in Paulo Freire: Pedagogue of Liberation (Florida: Krieger Publishing Company, 1994), 138. This hope is connected to ‘denouncing unjust structures and announcing free and just social arrangements’ which are essential for utopia. The journey to this place is in process and is evolving in history. This vision or belief motivated Freire to develop a process of conscientisation for humanisation. He did not name it specifically the Reign of God, but theologians and pastoral ministers name the humanisation process as the coming of the Reign of God. Interestingly, some scholars believe this word utopia needs revisioning. Thomas H. Groome contends that a more accurate understanding of the meaning of utopia would be ‘“no place” – an ideal beyond reach.’ See Thomas H. Groome, Educating for Life (Allen, Texas: Thomas More, 1998), 426. Groome proposes eu-topos as meaning ‘“true place”

adamant that education was not a neutral process but a ‘politicalpedagogical activity’.34 Undergirding a meaningful prophetic liberative process for suffering people is the promotion and mobilisation of political and social agency within people’s religious faith and ethical contexts. For example, within the Turkana context, there exists education programmes such as youth and women’s development projects that aim not only at creating awareness among the people of their history, but also empowers them to overcome feelings of inadequacy, inflicted through a policy of pacification, by active participation in local political and economic life. The development of cooperatives35 is perceived as an innovation that enables participants in a community to share meaningfully in the economic life as well as the cultural life of the region. Such initiatives can be a basis for inspiring intercultural conscientisation as they involve people in any culture.

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– an ideal worth striving for.’ He further suggests that ‘Being an educator is surely a eutopian vocation.’ This is a significant distinction. However, many liberation theologians generally and Ignacio Ellacuria particularly use the word utopia not as some abstract unreachable ideal, but as utopia concretized within specific histories. See Ellacuria, ‘Utopia and Prophecy in Latin America’, in Mysterium Liberationis: Fundamental Concepts of Liberation Theology, eds. Ignacio Ellacuria, S.J. and Jon Sobrino, S.J. (New York: Orbis Books, 1993), 303. Freire, Pedagogy in Process: The Letters to Guinea-Bissau, 57. For Freire, in relation to his educational strategy in Guinea Bissau, the ‘political-pedagogical activity such as this – one that puts a dialectical theory of knowledge in practice – becomes, in itself, a fundamental dimension of the task of national reconstruction. Out of such an understanding of national reconstruction, a new society can evolve and a new type of intellectual emerge. The unity between practice and theory becomes real.’ James Paul Gee states, ‘Freire is well aware that no literacy is politically neutral, including the institutionally based literacy of church, state, and school that has and continues to under gird the hegemonic process in Western society.’ See James Paul Gee, ‘Dilemmas of Literacy’, in Mentoring the Mentor: A Critical Dialogue with Paulo Freire (New York: Peter Lang, 1997), 238. Within the Turkana context, different cooperatives have been formed to manage local produce such as fish, fruit, and animals for market. Participants are educated in the management of these cooperatives which are seen as a concrete way of gaining power for personal and communal transformation.

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Intercultural Conscientisation Freire posits that cultural empowerment encompasses a premise that people are conscientised or awakened to the reality of who and whose they are within their own unique history.36 I believe this wakefulness is essential for preparing participants in specific cultures toward mutual and reciprocal interculturation that enriches every culture and religious world view.37 Participants in cultures must be empowered to maintain and integrate the uniqueness of their historical particularities as well as learn how to transcend these particularities for the benefit of other cultures.

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Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 17–18. Freire, refuting allegations that conscientisation leads people to ‘destructive fanaticism’, suggests that the process makes ‘it possible for people to enter the historical process as responsible Subjects, conscientização enrols them in the search for self-affirmation and thus avoids fanaticism.’ See also Linda Vogel, Teaching and Learning in Communities of Faith: Empowering Adults Through Religious Education (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991), 3. Vogel, aware that we live in a pluralistic world, suggests that ‘To be a viable faith community necessitates our confronting as illusory the idea that we can escape into our churches and synagogues; rather, as faith communities we are called to embark on a journey.’ We are confronted with the stories and visions of other persons whose faith and human experience is different. We are challenged as pastoral agents of the Christian worldview to learn and appropriate the truth and integrity of these memories if we want to genuinely belong within not only diverse multi-cultural communities but also across cultures whose faith communities are radically different. She further posits that ‘Our sense of identity (who and whose we are), our personal and communal stories, and all that gives life meaning are bound up in our gift of memory’ (28). See Mary Jane Collier, ‘Reconstructing Cultural Diversity in Global Relationships: Negotiating the Borderland’, in Guo-Ming Chen and William J. Starosta, eds., Communication and Global Society (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2000), 215–233. From a sociological viewpoint, Collier’s objective is to ‘uncover ways in which we make sense of our diverse cultural identities and bring to light through discursive consciousness a clearer understanding of how we construct relationships across and within borders.’ She proposes dialogue as having the ability to ‘contribute to decolonialization by providing concrete examples to open up spaces for understanding and emancipation’ (232).

Conscientização was at the core of Freire’s understanding of how freedom could be achieved.38 It is a form of learning that critically examines social, political, religious, and economic paradoxes and privileges that oppress, alienate, limit, and marginalise.39 Anthony Gittins offers an insightful definition of conscientisation in relation to mission. He contends that conscientisation, the process by which our boundaries are shaken and our sensibilities shocked, is catalytic for further change within ourselves. It is therefore a potential step to conversion. Conscientisation is the softening up of our hardened perceptions or philosophical positions; it is the breaking down of obsolete and unnecessary defenses.40

Such awareness and change of attitude emerges through intercultural and interreligious encounters. Gittin’s view echoes Freire’s perspective for critical awareness of our historical context even if such a context reflects abject poverty, a multicultural context, or a religiously plural environment. Missionaries everywhere are challenged to change attitudes not just within Africa, Asia, and South America, the so called ‘foreign missions’. Sensibilities must change within the areas of the so-called ‘home missions’ within many parts of the so-called West in order to accommodate the phenomenon of ‘reverse mission’.41 One outlook that needs transformation is that missionary work is not to be limited to geographical areas such as Africa or the domain of the socalled Third World. The universality of mission is grounded in sharing the vision of the Gospel globally and incorporates specific ministries that missionary agents engage in to reflect this objective. Religious evangelisation plays a significant role in assisting human beings everywhere to become aware of their economic, political, religious, and social surroundings, etc., in order to be empowered as agents of life-giving change toward God. As Freire often asserted, 38

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Paulo Freire, The Politics of Education: Culture, Power, and Liberation (Massachusetts: Bergin and Garvey, 1985), 160. Freire describes the conscientisation process as ‘cultural action for freedom.’ Freire, Education For Critical Consciousness (New York: Seabury Press,1973), 19. See Anthony J. Gittins, Bread For the Journey, 61. Ibid., 59–64.

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conscientisation ‘represents the development of the awakening of critical awareness.’42 This critical consciousness forms a basis for a capacity to embrace who we are within our own culture as well as who we become within the meaning perspective of a different culture or among a plurality of cultural and religious experiences. Missionaries and those who live in diverse cultural contexts are constantly challenged to integrate appropriately another world view which becomes part of their identity. Intercultural discernment is needed in order to appropriate life-giving aspects of different cultures. Such a process of discernment acknowledges the fact that nobody exists merely within one identity but all are challenged to welcome different cultural and even religious perspectives into an all embracing flexible intercultural identity. Intercultural Discernment Christian evangelisation generally, and religious education particularly, must have a starting point or a frame of reference in which to begin a process of discerning God’s activity in people’s lives. This discernment is conducted within the social, religious, and physical environment of lived human experience. Within a specific historical, religious, and cultural context, such as the Turkana, the process of making accessible the traditions of the community for guiding the process of human transformation toward God is essential.43 Not only is the Turkana religious perspective accessed for enlightenment but the Christian tradition is appealed to for the complete disclosure of the Gospel embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.44 42 43 44

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Freire, Education For Critical Consciousness, 19. Mary Boys, Educating in Faith: Maps and Visions (Kansas City, Missouri: Sheed & Ward, 1989), 193. See Swidler, L. and Mojzes, P. eds., The Uniqueness of Jesus: A Dialogue with Paul F. Knitter (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1997), 164. The work of the missionary from all religious perspectives is to enable all people to know and integrate visions of a God who saves through a multiplicity of mediators or saviours. Knitter suggests that the soteriological component found in the Reign of God is the basis for a common ground with other religions. He asserts that

Freire believed that ‘Knowledge is built up in the relations of transformation, and perfects itself in the critical problematisation of these relations.’45 In other words, the problem posed is a problem that derives from the specific context of relationships, e.g., cultural poverty, discrimination, exclusion, rituals, animal and grazing issues. These felt concerns combined with occasions for joy and celebration such as a birth, a new job, or a harvest festival, become ‘generative themes’ within the education encounter.46 Some words associated with these themes, especially those related to domination or freedom, are decoded for different relevant meanings for the people. The ideologies attached to the words are decoded to reveal an understanding of how the economically poor people are habitually oppressed. For example, the Kiswahili word for a lord is Bwana. Bwana was the title that colonists assumed when they lived in Kenya. For instance, if Jesus Christ is called Bwana, rather than this being a symbolic word of liberation it could reflect oppression and obfuscate the authenticity of Jesus Christ’s intention. Thus, a domesticating interculturation is promoted. Domesticating Interculturation A ‘banking’ or domesticating47 evangelisation that perpetuates the status quo of religious oppression and cultural superiority will not give way to mutual and reciprocal interculturation. Proselytising for parti-

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most ‘religions that have survived the centuries have traditions within them that call their followers to respond to the terrestrial needs of others.’ This means they are concerned with the well-being of those who suffer and are oppressed. Freire, Education For Critical Consciousness, 109. Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 84–99. See Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 53. In relation to education, Freire notes that ‘in the banking concept of education, knowledge is a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing.’ Instead of the evangeliser being the one with absolute knowledge of the gospel, others of different cultures and religious perspectives have seeds of that gospel already flourishing in their cultures which can inform and influence the evangeliser who needs to be evangelised by the universal Spirit of God as well.

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cular cultural and religious perspectives concerning the essence of truth will be forcing people to conform to the environment of a domineering methodology of evangelisation. Life-giving interculturation promotes human interdependence through mutual cultural and religious collaboration for peace, reconciliation, and human prosperity for everyone. Fostering the growth of individuals in community to usher in the fullness of God’s reign expeditiously through decisive action is the nature of evangelisation grounded in the principle of love. Genuine solidarity occurs within and among cultures when one is able to be with people rather than for people in their struggle to overcome dehumanisation.48 That is to say, no culture should have a superior attitude reflected through technology, religious practices, and economic development which is used to subjugate and domesticate others into thinking and believing like the ‘superior’ culture. Freire, in relation to education, observed Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiqués and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat.49

Such an observation could be made for Christian evangelisation that does not take into account the ‘truths’ present in different cultures and the seeds of life and dignity expressed through diverse religious experience. Christian evangelisation is not about depositing the Reign of God among cultures. Rather, this vision is a dialogical proposition of shared faith actively present within various historical situations that needs cultivation in order to recognise the face of God. Human freedom is the objective of the Gospel vision. This freedom is not a deposit made into the lives of people, but it is a shared and mutually located reality within the minds, hearts and hands of people within their cultures and religions.

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See Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 57. Ibid., 53.

Personal and Communal Freedom For contemporary times, the purpose of an evangelising intercultural religious education is to provide learning experiences that form people’s consciousness of who they are and how they belong in the world. The objective of this consciousness is human freedom. That is to say, individual and communal transformation is at the core of intercultural religious activity to enable all human persons to acquire and sustain their dignity50 through freedom to make personal choices for their human potential.51 For example, to facilitate change associated with degrading opinions against women within the Turkana context, women are conscientised and empowered in various ways to make choices for their freedom. The establishment of a crafts industry is one among many projects that enable women experience their dignity, self-worth, and independence. Women have an opportunity to form small economic communities in which they can have a sense of their own personhood and yet, they are not isolated from the indispensable activity of the whole community. Male consciousness around gender issues are also challenged and revised to respect women. Persons, especially women, are not to be treated as objects in isolation, but they are to be engaged as active subjects in understanding and appreciating their own history. This history contains the ingredients for reclaiming and sustaining human dignity within an interdependent and pluralistic world. The historical Jesus, who became the Christ of faith, is at the heart of revealing what Christians call the Gospel. This identifies the evangelisation process as being particularly grounded in Christian culture and scriptural tradition. The Gospel vision, preached by Jesus Christ, is reflected in the world through a wholistic and integrated human being, a just society, a greater acceptance of diverse cultures, 50

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See National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice For All: Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching, tenth anniv. ed. (Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference (USCC), 1997), 32. See Martha C. Nussbaum, ‘Human Capabilities, Female Human Beings’, in Martha C. Nussbaum and Jonathan Glover, eds., Women, Culture, and Development: A Study of Human Capabilities (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), 61–104.

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and an inclusivity of difference within community. Christian religious evangelisation becomes a process that reforms an individual and collective identity and morality within an intercultural and interreligious milieu. This evangelisation takes account of the seeds of the Gospel already being lived and manifested through cultural and religious media different from a European Christo-centric expression of the Gospel. For instance, in relation to the Turkana case study, the emuron (diviner) in this context provides an important life-giving link between Akuj (God) and the community’s need for healing broken relationships. Becoming fully human under girds an intention for participants to become religiously and politically literate (citizens) toward the vision of the Reign of God.52 By exploring circumspectly their past lived religious and cultural experience, insights can be gleaned that enable them to move toward true human freedom reflected in the Gospel, proclaimed by Jesus Christ. Such freedom includes reconciling broken relationships, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, freeing prisoners, forgiving sinners, and embracing strangers, etc. (Lk.4:18– 19, Mt.25:35–46). This is at the core of achieving wisdom as lifegiving relationship with ourselves, others, creation, and God. Attaining Wisdom for Authentic Humanisation Wisdom that leads toward a life in God is the foundational principle for all Christian religious education with the intention of seeking human freedom for all.53 It is a wisdom that is focused on the liber-

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See Thomas H. Groome, Sharing Faith, 14. Groome contends that ‘the metapurpose of Christian religious education is the “reign of God”.’ From a Christian world view, he further suggests ‘Promoting this ultimate purpose of God’s rule in people’s lives calls up the more immediate and interrelated pedagogical tasks of educating, by God’s grace, for lived Christian faith and for the wholeness of human freedom that is fullness of life for all.’ See Thomas H. Groome, Educating For Life, 267–318. Groome posits ‘Wisdom is the realisation of knowledge in life-giving ways – for self, others, and the world. Becoming wise is eminently reasonable but goes beyond reason to

ation of the human person from all that is oppressive and dehumanising.54 The striving for life-giving knowledge among cultures through collaborative religious interaction can be viewed as a search for wisdom manifested ultimately for Christians as right relationships with self, others, creation, and God. According to Groome, Consistent with the later Hebrew perspective, in the New Testament and throughout Christian tradition, wisdom was understood as a gift of God’s Spirit that leads people to know, desire, and live in right relationship with God, self, others, and creation.55

Wisdom seeks justice grounded in compassion for all.56 An understanding that we are truly and unconditionally loved by God and created in God’s own image and likeness means that all human beings are called into right relationship with themselves, others, the world, and the transcendent. For religious interculturation that seeks a common understanding of wisdom toward global humanisation and solidarity, it will mean that every culture and religious world view needs to offer its own insights into the significance of living in peaceful and life-giving relationships. The Turkana context offers insights into wisdom such as its understanding of promoting human life through initiation rites, healing ceremonies, witchcraft festivals, spiritual magic, and religious taboos. These elements are different from what may be

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engage the whole person – head, heart, and hands, and all the capacities thereof, in activities of cognition, affection, and volition’ (288). See Pope Paul VI, Evangelisation in the Modern World (Evangelii Nuntiandi), # 33. See also Thomas H. Groome, Sharing Faith, 30–32. Groome proposes that ‘over the span of biblical tradition, wisdom evolved from connoting a technical skill, to a practical mode of living, to an ethic of life, to personification as a divine partner and something truly of God’ (31). Moreover, according to the author, ‘such wisdom arises from reflection on one’s own life, from dialogue and the example of other “wise” people, and from reflection on God’s wisdom as revealed through Scripture and tradition; it requires the context of dialogue and testing of a “wisdom community”’ (32). Groome, Sharing Faith, 32. Douglas Sturm, Solidarity and Suffering: Toward a Politics of Relationality (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998), 202–206. Sturm posits ‘Wisdom is the culmination of understanding. Compassion is the direct expression of wisdom. Justice is the impulse of compassion’ (202).

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considered life-giving in the Christian tradition, but they, nevertheless, convey life and meaning in this particular context. Across cultures, multicultural contexts, and various religious horizons of meaning, there are particular shared principles that could foster the engagement of humankind in a transformative and enriching interculturation for authentic humanisation. I believe that the principle of human life and dignity is a universal vision that can be discovered, shared, and sustained interculturally. All cultures experience pain, suffering, death, and hope and respond to these needs in various ways through elaborate religious rituals that explain and interpret these human experiences. The Gospel is in conversation with these aspirations and interprets these events as it penetrates cultures and religions. The Gospel story shares in the common desire for human life and the universal human experience of hope. Interreligious conversation is a praxis of faith within communities of believers.

C. Interreligious Conversational Praxis within Communities of Faith Principles for Interculturation The search for shared meaning and truth engages people in a genuine intercultural exchange for the mutual exchange of gifts in the form of knowledge that leads to humanising transformation. Conversation with a different religious tradition and cultural meaning system can orchestrate a process whereby there is authentic transformation between, for example, the Christian culture and a non-Christian culture such as the Turkana. Respectful conversation has the capacity to evoke truth and facilitate mutual understanding. Within an authentic exchange between Christian symbols such as Jesus Christ, the sacraments, the cross, and Turkana symbols such as divination, initiation rites, animal sacrifices, and the cult of the ancestors, etc., an awareness for meaning, healing, and life-giving rela236

tionships emerges. These outcomes represent for any specific religious tradition or culture a common vision that is understood and manifested differently.57 Symbols that represent exclusion or alienation from participation in culture need critique. Their dehumanising perspective impacts on the desire to transform and enhance life. However, some symbols can convey mixed messages of life on the one hand and discrimination on the other hand. The symbolisation of asapan can convey hope and new life for boys as they experience their initiation into adulthood. For girls, it does not have the same meaning. The symbol needs critical reflection on the part of the whole community to make it say more to women’s desire for authentic adulthood within a climate of different intercultural and interreligious experiences. Conversation is required and for Christian believers, I suggest that there are specific guiding principles needed if it is to be in congruence with the integrity of the Gospel (see figure 6.1, p.240). Firstly, it is crucial that the missionary or religious educator, maintains a conviction regarding his or her own Christian tradition within every religious and cultural context. That is to say, understanding one’s own cultural history and roots, and the influence of Christian culture, i.e., philosophy, theology, scripture, language, and spirituality, etc., upon this culture, is important for authentic intercultural theological conversation. Witness to the aspirations of the Christian way of life is vital toward credibility in the conversation. It follows that if an integrated Christian identity is flexibly sustained, it may enable pastoral agents to be comfortable with others from diverse cultural and religious experiences. For intercultural and interreligious learning to be possible, there needs to be an understanding of the Christian vision as a process of human liberation toward God. The Christian religion is not an end in itself. It is a means toward actualising the fullness of God’s reign in history. The agenda of ongoing liberation is embodied 57

See Paul F. Knitter, Jesus and the Other Names, 153. Knitter suggests that ‘More concretely, only in the actual, on-site conversation can European and African Christians determine whether the condemnation of polygamy is a demand of the gospel or a reflection of Western family structures. Such a protracted, open-ended process can make Christians who have never known any other Christianity than the present one very uncomfortable and fearful.’

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in the life of the church as a community of individuals who participate in liturgy, catechesis, theological investigation, styles of leadership, and service etc. These various ministries attempt to embody the need for personal and communal life-giving transformation in every culture. Secondly, mutual respect and collaborative partnerships are essential ingredients for sharing the values of the Christian gospel within various cultures and among different religious perspectives. This means agents of the Gospel need to recognise life-giving elements contained in different cultures and work together in partnership to enrich those values through the ideal of the Gospel. For instance, the Christian gospel advocates solidarity with the suffering and oppressed human beings in their specific historical contexts. Consequently, as missionary agents of the Gospel, we experience and share in the discomfort and the deprivations of poverty with those who struggle for survival and their human dignity. Thirdly, listening and providing a compassionate advocacy with those who endure great social economic and political injustices, can create a space where the poor can feel empowered. Providing opportunities for the vulnerable and the marginalised to claim their dignity is augmented within a hospitable environment of shared vulnerabilities and strengths between the missionary and those within a culture of poverty. An environment of listening created by missionaries gives the disenfranchised an opportunity to find their voice and articulate their need for belonging on their terms. Fourthly, there needs to be a kenosis on the part of the evangeliser: an emptying out, a letting go of preconceived ideas about diverse religious and cultural perspectives. This provides space for the other to participate from their vision of truth knowing that no one has a monopoly on what is true in some objective sense.58 When sharing faith, people can be free to be their authentic selves as expressed 58

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See Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of A Teacher’s Life (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998),104. Palmer suggests that ‘the only “objective” knowledge we possess is the knowledge that comes from a community of people looking at a subject and debating their observations within a consensual framework of procedural rules.’

through and embodied in their culture and belief systems. In fact, everyone should be encouraged to live their differences in a life-giving way. The process of authentic interculturation demonstrates fundamental respect and reverence for people in the way cultural material is critiqued and appropriated for life-giving relationship toward God. For Christian missionary agents, this encompasses naming biases, prejudices, stereotypes, and weaknesses in ourselves and the church to which we belong so that the Gospel can be understood through the vulnerability of being human. Fifthly, inevitably, there will be conflict. Developing an awareness of how to deal with it is quintessential for all to grow and be transformed in a meaningful way. Personal frustration, anger, and suffering, etc., may arise within the individual struggle to understand and appropriate elements of an unfamiliar culture and religious ways of knowing. Managing this appropriately can be a challenge depending on the personal circumstances of every missionary. However, I believe that missionaries need a suitable forum to express their thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment or condemnation. Having an opportunity to talk about aspects of a culture that appear distasteful to a missionary can help in creating a climate of trust, respect, and understanding. Regular group contact and support mechanisms such as spiritual direction, counselling, and friendship are recommended to ensure that missionaries continue to reflect on their experiences within different cultures. Finally, learning how to accept those who are ‘different’ and participating in the struggles of others, demands a capacity for hospitality, compassion, care, patience, generosity, and so on. Missionary agents, as guests in diverse cultures, need to cultivate behaviour habits that illustrate an awareness of beliefs about cultural and religious inclusivity, world citizenship, and economic globalisation, etc. For effective faith sharing, these agents need to embody an ability to live among and work with people from diverse cultures; walk and journey with them taking care that their own attitudes and actions are not patronising, exploiting, and dehumanising. A curriculum of interculturation needs to include ways in which pastoral agents can interact appropriately with different cultures and religious experiences.

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Conviction within Christian Tradition

Listen and Provide Compassionate Advocacy

Learn to Understand Diversity

Mutual respect and Collaborative Partnerships

Kenosis: Empty out Prejudice

Manage Conflict Appropriately

Figure 6.1: Guiding principles for conversation

The Curriculum of Interculturation While I have outlined important guiding principles for a process of mutual interculturation, it follows that there should be a specific paradigm of engagement for carrying out the particular task of sharing Gospel faith and acting for authentic human freedom toward God’s reign. This responsibility is grounded in the history and context of people’s lived human experience. Thomas H. Groome asserts: Pedagogy for lived Christian faith that is emancipatory requires the foundation of an ‘epistemic ontology’; that is, it must engage and form people’s conscious-

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ness of their own ‘being’ in time and place with the intent of true freedom for all.59

This pedagogy, influenced by Heidegger’s notion of Being60 and Freire’s philosophy of conscientisation, is concerned with awakening subjects-in-relationship to a power within themselves to explore their present social situation for elements of humanisation. Naming both the negative and positive elements is important. Such power to examine current lived human experience evolves within a community whereby persons can interact and discover truth.61 Parker Palmer contends ‘The hallmark of the community of truth is in its claim that reality is a web of communal relationships, and we can know reality only by being in community with it.’62 Mutual learning and mutual teaching goes hand in hand within the educative context that views worthwhile knowledge as interrelational and intersubjective.63 Robert Schreiter notes that each culture has its own codes, that is, rituals, customs, and traditions that explain and give meaning to a particular way of life.64 Understanding the code can mean a capacity to discover the authentic reality or truth undergirding the culture and religious consciousness. Schreiter makes a further observation by contending that there are signs in culture that carry messages. For example, he points to the cross as a sign that came from the Mediterranean culture which carries 59 60 61

62 63

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Groome, Sharing Faith, 25. Ibid., 76–79. Palmer, Courage to Teach, 104. Parker understands truth ‘as the passionate and disciplined process of inquiry and dialogue itself, as the dynamic conversation of a community that keeps testing old conclusions and coming into new ones.’ I see theological interculturation as concerned with exploring possibilities for new growth using the standard of the gospel as the measuring line. Ibid., 95. See Judith Jordan, ‘The Meaning of Mutuality’, in Woman’s Growth in Connection: Writings from the Stone Center (New York and London: The Guilford Press, 1991), 81–96. Jordan proposes a five step ‘model of mutual intersubjectivity’ (83). She concludes that ‘In intersubjective mutuality, then, we not only find the opportunity of extending our understanding of the other, we also enhance awareness of ourselves’ (96). Robert Schrieter, The New Catholicity, 80.

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a ‘sign of shame and humiliation’.65 Would this sign evoke the same feeling in every culture? Shame and humiliation may be experienced through different signs which the cross could not convey. For instance, the Turkana women and men who are not married experience a particular shame and humiliation. In addition, if they cannot have children to continue their claim to life within the community this is further cause for chagrin. While Schreiter tries to understand the complex reality of intercultural interaction through the medium of codes and signs, my preference in imagining a theology of interculturation is to view all cultural and religious activity as symbolic. What are the codes and signs for human wellbeing within the Turkana cultural and religious system? How do these codes and signs become symbols of human life and dignity as they interact with the vision of the Gospel conveyed by different codes and signs within the accumulated Christian culture? As I have posited, the integrity of the Gospel message needs always to be preserved to avoid being domesticated by developing trends in culture which could submerge it, thus blunting the Gospel’s ethical cutting edge. Schreiter observes that in relation to codes Intercultural communication, learning how to read the different codes is key to understanding the message. It is therefore central also for being able to decide if the Christian message, differently encoded, has been able to maintain its integrity.66

Codes and symbols that are critically reflected upon in various cultures can be a means of association and can be a common-ground for people in their respective contexts. The use of food and water, the experience of suffering and healing, and the need for relationships, can be symbolic ways that can lead to achieving common interests. Christian evangelisation is itself symbolic and uses symbolic language, concepts, images, questions, rituals, and stories, etc., to point to something greater than itself, that is, transformation toward the Infinite Reality. God is revealed in the world and human consciousness and faith is the necessary ingredient to respond to what is re65 66

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Schreiter, The New Catholicity, 80. Ibid., 80.

vealed by God. Persons-in-relationship, through their ability to relate, think, feel, and imagine, can be attentive to the reality of God in the world. This tangible world is itself God’s self-communication.67 This incessant divine communication or revelation in the movement of the world, unfolding in particular contexts, histories, and cultures demands a faith response that acknowledges that communication has occurred and continues to occur. God communicates in myriad ways to humankind in our world, e.g. through people, creation, and events, etc. We can only respond in faith if we are invited to be attentive to our lives in the evolution of our existence in the world. This means our cumulative human histories, cultures, and religious traditions contain clues of God’s communication and self-revelation that enable transformation of our current lived experience in the world. For the Turkana, as well as for every ethnic group, working towards the horizon of life-giving meaning contained within the Reign of God by prophetic and respectful evangelical methods is a political, religious, and social activity. It is a curriculum informed and deeply rooted within the relational, that is, the kinship experience of the Turkana people.68 Kinship is embodied and reflected within the religious and historical activities of the people.69 For Africans, especially, peo67

68

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See Michael J. Himes and Kenneth R. Himes, Fullness of Faith: The Public Significance of Theology (New York and Mahwah, New Jersey, 1993), 85–88. The authors argue that ‘The revelation of God as concretized in particular and special events serves to underline or bring into relief what God is always already doing within all of the created order, communicating the divine gift of grace’ (87). See P.H. Gulliver, The Family Herds: A Study of Two Pastoral Tribes in East Africa, The Jie and Turkana (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1966), 126. For an analysis of the significance of kinship within African societies, see John S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, second edition (New Hampshire: Heinemann, 1990), 98–106. John Mbiti proposes ‘Whatever happens to the individual happens to the whole group, and whatever happens to the whole group happens to the individual. The individual can only say: “I am, because we are; and since we are, therefore I am”’ (106). Mbiti insists that this is the fundamental point in the understanding of the African person. See Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, 101. Mbiti contends that ‘Each people has its own religious system, and a person cannot be converted from one

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ple are not isolated objects. Rather, within most African cultures persons are active subjects-in-communal relationship and this is significant for understanding and appreciating their own history as having the ingredients for salvation within an interdependent, intercultural, and pluralistic world.70 Conversation71 in relation to discovering the ingredients of salvation is an evolving process that consists of a platform of six converging evolutions (see figure 6.2, p.245).72 My use of the word evolution is deliberate because during the process of conversation truth evolves for both individual persons and communities. The evolutions converge because as each segment evolves in the course of a

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72

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tribal religion to another: he (she) has to be born in the particular society in order to participate in the entire religious life of the people.’ Kwame Gyekeye, African Philosophical Thought: The Akan Conceptual Scheme, revised edition (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995), 154– 162. Drawing on Akan philosophy, Gyekeye suggests ‘Communalism may be defined as the doctrine that the group (that is, the society) constitutes the focus of the activities of the individual members of the society. The doctrine places emphasis on the activity and success of the wider society rather than, though not necessarily at the expense of, or to the detriment of, the individual’ (155). My use of the concept conversation instead of dialogue is deliberate. I view conversation as a much more encompassing and inclusive term. There are many levels of conversation. Some remain on a superficial plane. However, at a deeper level, an intentional or focused conversation engages participants in the search of the foundations for their hopes. Although not speaking from within ‘the foreign missionary’ experience, for an in-depth analysis of the Shared Praxis model of engagement, see Groome, Sharing Faith, 133–293. Groome proposes five interconnecting movements for his shared Christian praxis approach to Christian religious education. Though essentially different, there is a similarity with Groome’s approach which is, according to him, ‘a participative and dialogical pedagogy in which people reflect critically on their own historical agency in time and place and on their sociocultural reality, have access together to Christian Story/Vision, and personally appropriate it in community with the creative intent of renewed praxis in Christian faith toward God’s reign for all creation’ (135). I believe that my pedagogical methodology of interculturation builds upon this description. However, I suggest that there may be six distinct evolving qualities that emerge within a given intentional conversation which is not always Christian but which may attend to other religious perspectives, such as an African indigenous religious horizon of story and vision.

conversation, it is quite possible that more than one evolution is taking place at the same time during the entire engagement. Comprehensible meaning for ourselves in the transcendent is found through the medium of an educational and evangelical perspective that is dialogical, life-giving, and intentional. An intentional conversation that attends to a specific felt need such as healing within the community can evangelise toward the vision of healing contained in the Gospel.73 These evolutions provide a foundation for understanding the process of mutual and reciprocal interculturation outlined in chapter one and expanded upon in chapter two, three, and four. This process can be useful within an organised catechumenate as well as furthering the growth in the spirituality and religious formation of an already existing ‘Christian’ community. Centring Theme

Engage & Name Issues

Critical Reflection

Conducive Environment For Shared Power

Decision Making

Appropriation Of Meaning

Accessing Religious traditions

Figure 6.2: The evolution of an intentional conversation

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Kasonga Wa Kasonga, ‘African Christian Palaver: a Contemporary Way of Healing Communal Conflicts and Crisis’, in Daisy Nwachuku, ed., The Church and Healing: Echoes from Africa: Africa Pastoral Studies, Vol. 2 (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1994), 49–64.

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First Evolution This first phase initiates the evolution of theological reflection by centring participants within a particular culture on a specific theme.74 These themes, chosen by the participants, are evoked through shared interests such as the alleviation of poverty, the overcoming of political oppressions, the search for meaningful power, the issue of corruption, the search for religious meaning, and so on. The facilitator/leader of a small faith community introduces this centring issue or, as Freire names it, the generative theme, through role playing and simple illustrations. For example, within the Turkana cultural context, theological reflection on the roles of women within initiation ceremonies and the need to transform this practice toward equality can be dramatised by a few members of the small group. In this way, the community is being centred to attend to and reflect upon this cultural and religious event in order to better understand its significance as a Turkana ritual and to find ways in which it could be transformed for more inclusivity. The objective of the first evolution is to bring attention to the general theme by a centring activity such as role playing, the use of stories, songs, music, questions, or pictures, etc., to enable the group move toward reflecting upon the intended issue for conversation. Once a group is attending to the particular theme of interest and is beginning to reflect personally and communally on the event, the next evolution can occur naturally with the facilitator guiding the unfolding process. Second Evolution The participants within an evangelising and educative process can then begin to effectively engage and name the religious, political, economic, psychological, and social impact of initiation rites upon the 74

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To understand the function of the centring aspect of interculturation, which enables participants turn to their specific needs or, what Groome names as the focusing activity in shared praxis, see Groome, Sharing Faith, 155–174.

community, particularly women. Naming helps those reflecting to make sense of their human experience in a particular historical, cultural, and religious milieu. As I mentioned earlier in this chapter, this is a significant evolution that empowers participants to name who and whose they are within their diverse cultural and religious experience. Traditional religious values and beliefs are reinterpreted to explain and guide current lived human experience. Both men and women in the small group have an opportunity to engage and name their experiences of initiation rites as well as other aspects of their tradition such as the role of animal sacrifices in mediating between Akuj and human beings, the need for healing of sicknesses, and the function of witchcraft in resolving interpersonal problems, etc. The aim is to provide an opportunity for transformation to emerge within the interaction of the conversation. At this point, there is no critique, except to name the current experience within the Turkana tradition as it pertains to the centring theme. Then, in order for the process to evolve further, the facilitator nudges the group gently forward into the third evolution by asking participants to critically reflect upon their experience of initiation rites, or animal sacrifices, or the role of the diviner, etc., whichever is at the centre of the conversation. Third Evolution While the process of conversation proceeds within the second evolution, there will be particular questions placed before the group and an opportunity given to critique what is particularly life-giving about these aspects of their tradition. Questions such as why is it necessary for initiation rites to be conducted for young boys? What does it mean to be a Turkana? Can these aspects of the tradition be reformed? How can girls be initiated appropriately in such a way as to promote their value and worth? Do we need animal sacrifices? How does the diviner mediate healing for the community? The answers can be recorded in writing if participants can read and write. However, within some rural areas of Turkana, such methods may not be appropriate in the critiquing evolution. I suggest that a more effective way of enhancing the critical reflection is to have participants engage different responses 247

through role playing, song, or story-telling. Then, the facilitator can introduce the next evolution by suggesting ways in which particular aspects of the Turkana indigenous tradition and the Christian tradition informs the critical reflection. Fourth Evolution The community of faith can now explore aspects of the Christian tradition and the Turkana tradition to inform the people’s lived human experience. For example, aspects of Jesus’ life can be discussed in which he respects the dignity of women such as the story of the Samaritan woman at the well (Jn.4:1–42) or the woman taken in adultery (Jn.8:1–11) or the cure of the woman with a haemorrhage (Lk. 8:43–56). Jesus’ stories of his healing and forgiveness can be accessed to inform the consciousness of participants as they attempt to reinterpret their own story and religious perspective. These stories could coincide with Turkana anecdotes of liberation concerning women such as the tale of the heroine Nayece who led the Turkana people to their present homeland. The influence of feminine diviners like Acuna of the Ngilukumong and Namongo from western Uganda can provide Turkana women with affirmation as well as encouragement to become diviners who can meaningfully influence within their present communities.75 Accessing aspects of both the Turkana and Christian religious traditions helps to illumine, affirm, and critique the cultural, historical, and religious traditions in order to find an appropriate image or metaphor that attends to understanding present faith and to further recommit to lived Gospel faith. Such accessing of both traditions can empower participants to commit and recommit themselves to living the vision of the Gospel within their specific context. For example, the role of the local diviner in the healing process of a person-in-community within Turkana can coincide with the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. The role of women in the birthing process which attracts special Turkana rituals to celebrate new life includes the lighting of a 75

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See Anthony Barrett, Sacrifice and Prophecy in Turkana Cosmology, 105.

new fire and the smearing of ashes upon the newborn child for protection against evil. This activity can mirror Christian expectations surrounding the Easter fire which embodies eternal hope and new life. The interaction of diverse symbols stimulates participants into reflection on their need for reconciliation, forgiveness, and meaning. Imagination and memory play an important role within an intercultural pedagogical process designed to access traditions that hold memories of hope as well as dangerous memories that remind us of our woundedness and our need for reconciliation. Drawing on the Turkana religious tradition in relation to healing and harmony of relationships and the Christian tradition of reconciliation and forgiveness can encourage people toward renewed faith reflected in their lives. Approaching elements of the Judeo-Christian religious tradition through the celebration of Eucharist evokes Turkana images of Akuj, revealed and understood through the symbol of the ancestors – the ‘living dead’ and the local diviner. This combined cultural and religious meaning-making impacts a revisioning of lived faith. Nourishing and cultivating the seeds of God’s reign in the midst of the Turkana, through the cultural and religious materials of initiation ceremonies, divination, witchcraft, and animal sacrifice, enables authentic personal and communal appropriation. Fifth Evolution This component of the evolving conversation allows participants to appropriate, on their terms, life-giving elements in both the Turkana and Christian traditions. In relation to the Turkana initiation ritual of asapan, the breaking of a bone to represent the separation from childhood immaturity to adult maturity, can be incorporated into the sacrament of confirmation. Similarly, with the celebration of the Eucharist, Turkana indigenous prayers known as agatakin and symbols such as the spear, animal skin, atubwa (drinking container), and esekon leaves can be combined with the Christian prayers of the faithful, the cross, the paschal candle, bread and wine, etc. This appropriation of the Gospel within these cultural and religious terms can unfold an ethical

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vision and create a fresh consciousness for a decision for renewed lived Gospel faith. Sixth Evolution The participants making a decision for lived Gospel faith both inside and outside the community of faith is the final piece of the evolutionary process. This decision for lived Gospel faith brings people to a greater receptivity, understanding, and clarity for Gospel action within the community. The action will take on a different cultural and religious expression within a particular context. For the Turkana, action for more inclusivity of women within initiation rites and reclaiming women’s roles as diviners within the community can be examples of positive action based on a critical theological reflection on their human experience. Comprehensible meaning can evolve both for the Turkana and the Christian missionaries among them if there is openness and flexibility to the way symbols function within the culture and religious boundary of interpretation. The sharing of power can be encountered in a way that is life-giving for all engaged in growth and transformation within the context. Discovering Shared Power Base religious communities76 are a means within the Turkana context that promotes this analysis and conscientisation by providing a forum in which humanisation can be visualised. The base communities provide an opportunity for Turkana believers to interpret their Christian 76

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Not everybody is specifically Christian in these communities but all share faith in God. See Jose Comblin, Called for Freedom (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1998), 84–86. Comblin alerts us to the fact that base religious communities, what he calls ‘Christian base communities’ or ‘comunidades eclesias de base’ (CEBs), can suit economically poor people, but they may not be appropriate for those in extreme poverty. The Turkana context is an example of extreme economic poverty and base religious communities have consequently struggled to survive, particularly during periods of famine.

faith, interpret their indigenous religious practices, and determine how justice and power can be attained in order to live more humanly in the world. The process of rediscovering shared power through a process of respectful interculturation, founded upon dialogue within these small faith communities, is at the core of a mission of Christian evangelisation. Participants can have a safe space to examine and respond to the consequences of the violation of pacification and colonisation. The faith communities are a locus within which an authentic consciousness can be evoked concerning different liturgical symbolic expressions of who God is and how God is in relationship with people in their diverse cultures and religious world views. The Turkana, for instance, amidst their particular changing social milieu can cherish the face of God in their midst through embracing the life-giving qualities of their culture. This cultural perspective not only manifests the Gospel vision for its own context but it also reflects a universal truth for the whole world manifested through the need for life-giving relationships.77 A safe environment is required and essential to enable people appreciate for themselves God in relationship with them. Conducive Environment The process of interpretation and re-interpretation toward a universal truth within base religious communities has implications for Christian evangelisation generally and for Christian catechesis particularly. A safe trusting environment is crucial for discovering the face of an in77

I am thinking here of the Christian sacrament of Eucharist as a powerful religious symbol for life-giving relationships. The celebration of Eucharist needs to take cognisance of the diversity of meaning-making in every culture as well as within multicultural and religious contexts. For example, the Turkana’s perspective on the central role of food and drink has for them in sustaining their lives in this context is significant. Celebrating Eucharist during difficult times of famine can be particularly stressful as it may remind them of the great disharmony within the social context pertaining to life-giving food that is linked to the development of their cultural identity. The loss of cultural identity represented by the lack of their own food challenges the culture to expand their identity to include external life-giving food and drink sources.

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tercultural God who is present and active across cultures, multicultural contexts, and plural religious viewpoints. The missionary educator’s task is to find pedagogical ways to promote lived Christian faith which yearns for the wholeness of human freedom for all persons. That is to say, the Christian educator or pastoral agent is a facilitator in the process of an intercultural conversation to enable participants understand and appropriate the challenges of the Gospel. This means the facilitator’s or the missionary’s style and manner indicates openness and hospitality conducive to intercultural learning and teaching.78 The instructional setting within the evangelising endeavour is challenged to elicit from the participants knowledge already present; a knowledge acquired by human experience lived within the interaction of their particular historical contexts. For Turkana participants particularly, an important aspect of change and transformation is to breakthrough the internalised oppression associated with their lived history and experience. For this to happen, they need to be free from any form of intimidation, fear of reprisals, and threats from local politicians, and so on. Some of the internalised suffering emerges from economic and political colonialisation that pacified them into submission. This continues in different ways through the policies of the local government that inherited the tactics of imperialism. However, these people can be liberated from this subjugation and live with the changing contemporary social, political and religious context in partnership with other cultures and religions. Christian evangelisation can play an important role enabling people not be tempted to return to that which always oppressed them or model this form of subjugation for a new generation. For missionaries involved in forming a new religious and social consciousness, the 78

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See Palmer, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life, 6. Palmer notes that ‘teachers possess the power to create conditions that can help students learn a great deal – or keep them from learning much at all.’ For more insights into the meaning of a conducive learning space that includes the ingredient of hospitality for educating toward personal and social transformation, see Parker J. Palmer, To Know as We are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1993), 71–75. Concerning shaping a collaborative dialogue, see Stella Ting-Toomey, Communicating Across Cultures, 224–230.

metaphor of a gardener comes to mind to describe the facilitation process involved in attending to and modelling the birthing of a new creation to emerge from the womb of local culture.79 The following figure 6.3 offers a glance at the Christian tradition and the Turkana tradition side by side in an effort to uncover God’s reign in this localised context with universal consequences for the diversity of God’s self revelation.

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I am thinking here of the Christian parable of the fig tree found in Luke 13:6–9. Jesus tells the story of how a person planted a fig tree and it refused to give fruit. The person kept returning to find fruit on it and there was none. He told the gardener to cut it down as it was useless. But the gardener said ‘leave it one more year and give me time to dig round it and manure it: it may bear fruit next year’ (Lk.13:9). I perceive interculturation as a process of gardening in which the nurturing of friendship and life-giving relationships among cultures and different religious viewpoints is at the heart of cultivating fruitfulness manifested in peaceful and just relationships with one another, the world, and God. See also Maria Harris, Fashion me a People: Curriculum in the Church (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1989), 167–183. Harris proposes that curriculum design is a ‘work of artistry’ and she uses the image of a potter in describing the process of fashioning a community of faith. Within religious interculturation, there is a need to fashion communities of faith according to their needs and human desires reflected through the diversity of their cultures and religious world views. Parker Palmer observes that ‘The teacher is a mediator between the knower and the known, between the learner and the subject to be learned.’ He further notes that ‘The way a teacher plays the mediator role conveys both an epistemology and an ethic to the student, both an approach to knowing and an approach to living.’ See Parker, To Know as We are Known, 29. Similarly, for pastoral agents or missionaries of the gospel, there is a challenge to present the vision of the gospel as a living human reality and not something divorced from lived human experience within cultures.

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Christian religious culture

Turkana indigenous religious culture

God – the Almighty Creator Jesus Christ – life, death, and resurrection

Akuj – ‘owner of all things’ Emuron – diviner – healer –prophet

Christian church – community of believers (memories of Jesus Christ contained and expressed)

Cult of the Ancestors – the ‘Living dead’ (The cumulative memory for the Turkana)

God’s Spirit as revealed in Jesus Christ

Leadership – Ministers

The Spirit world God’s Spirit revealed in the extended family Elders

Common symbols used in rituals bread, wine, oil, water, Scripture, fire, rings, chalice, cloth, and touch

Common symbols used in rituals the spear, knife, apron (adwel), fire, water, spittle, ngipip (sticks), fibre from the edome tree, the breaking of the bone or a stick, amulets, leaves from the esekon tree, and touch

Sacraments for symbolic representation toward initiating and nurturing Christian faith for discipleship in Jesus Christ

Rites of Initiation – asapan, Sacrifice and Prophecy for representing cultural and religious meaningmaking and identity

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Scripture and Tradition

Oral Tradition and History

Dance, music, the cross, and worship rituals that carry memory of Jesus Christ who revealed the contents of God’s reign in a specific, historical and religious way for Christians

Dance, music, animal sacrifices, healing rituals that carry the memory of the Turkana cultural and religious identity as well as their need for human meaning, healing and a way of life in relationship with Akuj, ancestors, and the living

Evil – disharmony – scapegoating – sin Resurrection

Ekipe – witchcraft –disharmony – curse Become an Ancestral spirit

Figure 6. 3: The Gospel uncovered: peace, love, justice, right relationships, reconciliation, healing, forgiveness, cultural and religious symbols that reveal God’s reign

In sum, I have been exploring a pedagogical methodology that may be helpful for a respectful conversational interculturation not only among the Turkana but which can also be invoked for Christian evangelisation and catechesis worldwide. This is the ultimate goal of an integral Christian evangelisation which seeks truth and integrity among different cultures and religions. Such an objective can be genuinely achieved through honouring the other’s religious and cultural perspective within a critical dialogue grounded in witness to promoting human life and dignity. The task is to affirm the ‘seeds’ of the Gospel already present and active within diverse cultures and religions for life-giving transformation and abundance of life for all.80 The univer-

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See Groome, Sharing Faith, 21–25.

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sal Spirit of God blows freely81 and we are challenged to discern its embodiment in a culturally and religiously diverse world so that right relationship with a transcendent God can be manifested.82 The next chapter moves to outline some consequences of this proposal.

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See the encyclical letter Redemptoris Missio, # 28–29. John Paul II suggests that ‘The Spirit’s presence and activity affect not only the individuals but also society and history, peoples, cultures and religions’ (# 28). See Dupuis, 316. Dupuis argues that ‘God’s saving action, which always operates within the framework of a unified plan, is one and at the same time multifaceted. It never rescinds from the Christ-event, in which it finds its highest historical density. Yet the action of the Word of God is not constrained by its historically becoming human in Jesus Christ; nor is the Spirit’s work in history limited to its outpouring upon the world by the risen and exalted Christ.’

Chapter Seven Imagining a New Global Intercultural Religious Consciousness

Introduction Interdependence describes not only the inextricable relatedness of nations and economies, but also that of peoples, religious traditions, and cultures. Religious interdependence is a reality of our world and interreligious dialogue a necessity, an instrument of our common work to transform the world in which we live. – Dianna L. Eck1

To recollect the vision of the book: the journey has been to explore the concept of theological and religious interculturation for Christian evangelisation. Exploring Christian mission in history traced a dominant model of faith imposition which eventually led to concepts like ‘adaptation’, ‘incarnation’ and ‘inculturation’. Surveying particular biblical models gave impetus to the nature of Jesus’ mission in partnership with others. Matteo Ricci’s attempts in China in the sixteenth century challenged the church of his day to seek ways in which Gospel vision can be observed and affirmed in Confucianism. Within an African world view, the case-study of the Turkana highlighted the contemporary nature of interculturation. Having explored Christian mission from a theological and religious sense in these contexts, it is now appropriate to look at other missiological issues relating to political and economic arrangements. Christian evangelisation not only concerns itself with spiritual matters but it also incorporates a political agenda in the pursuit of a wholistic humanisation through ecumenical dialogue, peace initiatives, justice campaigns, and reconciliation processes. 1

Diana L. Eck, Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras (Boston: Beacon Press, 1993), 202.

This final chapter addresses some of these implications. The concept of interculturation in itself is not a panacea to solve the problems of the world. That would be too simplistic. Rather, it is important to outline a few of the ramifications involved with a process of interculturation for Christian evangelisation. For instance, what does it mean to reshape Christian evangelisation in order to reflect an inclusive, multicultural and interreligious endeavour? I begin by sketching the notion that an intercultural and interdependent world requires dynamic religious and cultural collaboration grounded in shared human meaning. I then explore the possibility for a global ethic.2 This ethic sees love as the primary virtue for compassion and justice both locally and globally.3 Such a view seeks justice, understood as love of neighbour, reflected through social policies and political structures that sustain the life and dignity of every person.4 Finally, I suggest that the objective of peace and reconciliation requires that the evangelising endeavour be understood as a global reality as well as a contextual enterprise.5

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For an overview of this ethic for the world, see Hans Küng and Karl-Josef Kuschel, eds., special edition, A Global Ethic: The Declaration of the Parliament of the World’s Religions (New York: Continuum, 1993), 7–10. See Charles Birch, Regaining Compassion: For Humanity and Nature (Kensington, NSW, Australia: New South Wales University Press, 1993), 23. Birch asserts that ‘One of the categorical conditions of love is that there be a transforming relationship without destruction of individuality. We can still retain our individuality while at the same time being involved in others and being members of one another.’ See Hans Küng, Global Responsibility, 84–91. See Bosch, Transforming Mission, 455–457.

A. Reshaping Christian Evangelisation Shared Human Meaning The conclusion drawn from this book is that interculturation is essentially evangelisation undertaken for the wellbeing of humankind. Though I emphasise that interculturation is an on-going process of Christian evangelisation, I focus attention on a new global reality of cultural and religious interdependence that recognises shared human meaning and universal ‘truth’ within all cultures and religions.6 The proclamation of the ‘good news’ is dependent upon people who, when empowered by evangelisers, come and discover for themselves within their own unique contexts, diverse cultures, and different religious experiences who God is for them and how God relates with them. I believe that this unveiling of God’s transcendent face, encountered in the phenomenon of cultural and religious exchange, impacts on personal and communal identity everywhere. The mystery of God’s presence and action is also glimpsed through the complexity of globalised economic markets which shape culture and religious experience. Given the range of global change, Christian evangelisation needs to reshape its presentation of the Gospel story in such a way that different people can uncover its signs within their every day lived human experience.7 The embodied structure of evangelisation, manifested through the institution of church, is always called upon to revision its visible presence in every culture. Such reformation envisages a decentralising of power so that every person and community, who share different cultural and religious perspectives, can be empowered to in6

7

See Hans Küng, Global Responsibility, 77–87. Küng asks the basic question: ‘is there a theologically responsible way which allows Christians and those of other faiths to accept the truth of other religions without giving up the truth of their own religion and thus their own identity?’ See Thomas H. Groome, ‘Conversion, Nurture, or Both: Towards a Lifelong Catechetical Education – A Cautious Reading of the GDC’, The Living Light, 37 4(2001), 16–29. Groome suggests that ‘Essentially, the new evangelisation is about Christians’ ever renewing themselves to live their faith boldly as credible witnesses in the world’ (19).

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terculturate Gospel values. This empowerment should be reflected in the way the Gospel vision is shaped according to the unique cultural and religious contours of every context. The inclusion of the marginalised, the alienated, and the vulnerable needs to form a significant component of Christian evangelisation everywhere, especially within the visible structure of the church. The church, as constitutive of the entire people of God, is challenged to provide global access to sacramental resources by examining what lies at the core of its universal religious identity and reconfiguring the ordained priesthood to take account of the wider membership in the priesthood of Christ. As a powerful symbolic instrument of evangelisation, the church itself is called upon to offer opportunities for all to participate meaningfully in the growing life of the believing community, with a special concern for those who are the poorest of the poor. Such explicit re-imagining of the shape of the institutional church could provide a powerful sign to the world that God’s intention for life for every person is manifested in the way we create and structure our communities of faith. Granted that a new religious and cultural world order exists, it behoves agents of Christian evangelisation to not only have a capacity for flexibility in relation to changing religious and cultural identities but also to be open to embrace and affirm new authentic expressions of Gospel faith. Such fresh embodiments of Gospel faith seek encouragement and nurturing from evangelising persons so that the transcendent face of an intercultural God can be in fruitful solidarity with everyone. Jesus’ commission ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation’ (Mk.16:15) does not mean that there is only one way of doing it. Rather, the commission could be carried out in the same way Jesus and the Samaritan woman interdependently evangelised in the Samaria context. Such a paradigm invites contemporary Gospel agents into a personal relationship with Jesus the Nazarene. Similarly, the encounter between Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman adds a particular intensity and depth to intercultural relationships which do not always seem, on the surface, to be life-giving. Yet, Jesus and the Syrophoenician are partners in a mission to the world. The Syrophoenician paradigm of equal partnership challenges Gospel 260

representatives everywhere to be culturally and religiously inclusive. While Christians explore together their own cultures and religious symbols for evidence of God’s intention of life-giving relationship with them, they are also challenged to see beyond them. I have posited that interculturation means a mutual and reciprocal approach to Christian mission. Such a mutuality is not monodirectional in its intent. Rather, each person or community, economically wealthy or poor, has important gifts to share and can enhance the mutual life and dignity of each other. It is imperative that Christian evangelisers understand that they are not the only bearers of ‘good news’ for every diverse culture and religious world view. Rather, Christian evangelisers are called to accept and embrace the notion that they, too, can be transformed by the beliefs, customs, and spirituality reflected through different cultures and religions. Encountering African indigenous religions, for example, may change missionaries’ perceptions of how God is appropriated and mediated in practices such as the Turkana naming of God. In chapter four, I discussed Matteo Ricci’s struggle in the search of a suitable name for God that would both be grounded in the Chinese culture as well as ensure the integrity of Christian tradition. Not only do evangelisers appropriate new cultural influences that enhance their own inherited identities but the accumulative historical culture of Christianity continues its pilgrimage of reformation and reconstruction to become a new creation and thus continue as a living tradition. In the end, for the Turkana of Kenya the wholistic humanisation and divinisation of a people within their socio-linguistic and religious cultural context forms a maturation process that does not erase or suppress the dangerous memories of the past such as pacification. Instead, by embracing the shadows of the past as significant receptacles for grace, new life can be birthed. Such life is grounded in forgiveness and reconciliation which forges invigorating possibilities for life-giving Gospel evangelisation which reshapes their indigenous religious environment. Drawing on the Turkana case-study, an example of transforming evangelisation among the Turkana consists of interacting with aspects of their indigenous religion. A gesture toward reconciliation involved the creation of peaceful relationships between the Turkana nomads 261

and another neighbouring ethnic group known as the Pokot. The Gospel story of a man going from Jerusalem to Jericho (Lk.10:29–37) who was set upon by robbers and cared for by a Samaritan stranger reflects the contemporary cultural and religious struggle of the Turkana. This narrative best defines the meaning of neighbour and grips the Turkana imagination when the story is retold using the context of the Turkana and the Pokot. Telling the story from the perspective of a violent struggle between these two Kenyan cultures suggests that the Gospel perspective can be localised to impart universal meaning that transcends the local culture. Exposing the universal truth regarding compassion for the neighbour through the cultural material and religious experience of the Turkana people manifests the way in which Gospel truth can be shared. For instance, animal sacrifices, libations to the ancestors, dance rituals, and so on, all have the capacity to manifest signs of Gospel truth not only for the Turkana community but also for the world. Such cultural material does not ‘keep’ faith tabernacled inside cultural zones of religious exclusion. Instead, life-giving faith is interdependent and is shared to offer hope and fresh possibilities for the Turkana as well as for others outside this cultural and religious zone. In the present age, labelled postmodern, there is a growing sense of religious and cultural diversity through the deconstructing of imposing meta-narratives such as communism in the East, liberal capitalism in the West, and various forms of religious hegemony.8 Given such a climate of naming and claiming diversity, all religious evangelisation is challenged to explore ways in which life-giving spirituality can be liberated from accusations of cultural and religious imperialism. Rampant during the Enlightenment era, especially in Europe, was the idea that European culture, manifested in developments in science, education, and technology, was somehow ‘superior’ to other less ‘developed’ cultures and religions.9 This arrogant perception needs to 8

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For an explanation of deconstructing meta-narratives, see Terry A. Veling, Living in the Margins: Intentional Communities and the Art of Interpretation (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1996), 86–132. For a helpful overview of evangelisation influenced by the Enlightenment world view, see Bosch, Transforming Mission, 262–345.

be dissipated through an intercultural and interreligious understanding that all human beings are equal and have innate dignity. For Christian believers, this outlook is framed in the conviction that all people are created in the image and likeness of God. The perception that goodness and truth exist everywhere and not specifically within European cultures and religious perspectives, can be cultivated through global cultural and religious interaction. From the Christian scriptures, Christians learn that this religious tradition has taken the diversity of cultures and the convictions of other religious perspectives into account in proclaiming the Gospel. Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well illustrates the strategy of sharing Gospel vision within the Samaritan context. The fact that there are four different accounts of the Jesus event enshrined in the Christian scriptures is indicative of the diversity of culture and religious attitudes prevailing within the ancient world. As Anthony J. Gittins envisions, Our Christian tradition takes the physical world and the multiplicity of peoples seriously, claiming that God’s revelation can come to us at any time and place, through any culture, any society, and any person. Christians, therefore, have no business identifying only the bad and inferior in cultures, but must actively look for signs of God’s presence.10

Shared human meaning is an important goal for global interculturation which seeks common ground in order to collaborate for personal and social transformation. Every religious evangelisation, and particularly Christian evangelisation, is challenged to engage cultures and religious world views to transform them with the vision of the Gospel rather than domesticate them through any kind of religious or cultural invasion and uniformity.

10

Gittins, Reading the Clouds: Mission Spirituality for New Times, 165.

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Evangelisation as Intercultural Transformation Within the religious activity of interculturation, the issue of selfidentity for various denominations of Christians in a pluralistic and diverse world is problematic. There is fear that the essential vision of the Gospel is compromised within a culture, even within Christian culture itself. I refer to this occurrence as domesticating culturalism. This is to say, the Gospel no longer has the capacity to critique dehumanising elements within the culture because the vision has been domesticated or tamed by the prevailing transient values of the culture. For example, a woman or a man who is not married within the Turkana tradition may not be fully respected as a human within the society and this needs Gospel critique. So, too, the notion that a woman is ‘bought’ by a man through a dowry system perpetuates the denigration and subjugation of women within the Turkana community. If the Gospel is unable to critique these aspects, among others, because of other external cultural baggage, such as a European accretion which may subjugate and discriminate against women, it becomes domesticated and has aligned itself with cultural traits that are oppressive. Thus, the Gospel relinquishes its ability to transform and recreate culture as well as empower the reconstruction of religious traditions so they reflect live-giving and meaningful relationships. Christian evangelisation, manifested through catechetical instruction and the lived experience of the Christian faith, fosters the Gospel vision of life. Life-giving faith for all is nurtured through interpretation and appropriation of the living Christian tradition. This catechesis grounded in universal Gospel values and expressed uniquely within local cultures and religious perspectives nourishes social and religious transformation. Such transformation empowers individuals and communities to move beyond narrow civil and religious particularities to embrace the gift of life intended by God. The pluralism of religious world views and the diversity of cultures form constitutive components for Gospel evangelisation toward transcendent realities. This is to say, not only is evangelisation conducted in Africa, South America, Asia, and Oceania by predominantly European and North American missionaries, but that missionaries – men, women, and children from these so-called third-world continents 264

– can also live and evangelise within the Western world. The West needs to recognise that interaction with missionaries from non-western countries could provide animation, guidance, and encouragement for the whole church. The reciprocity of missionary activity can enhance global intercultural mutuality and the sharing of diverse embodiments of the Gospel vision could animate a fresh consciousness of the sacredness of human life and dignity everywhere.11 Thus, a reciprocity in the exchange of missionaries may provide a stimulus for revisioning evangelisation within the older churches in the western hemisphere, especially in western Europe. Lamin Sanneh visualises: we should grasp the ethical challenge implied in cross-cultural relationships and responsibility, approach human difference and diversity as a resource for truthseeking and accept the possibility of mutual correction and instruction as profoundly consistent with the enterprise of being human. The space in which we may be true to ourselves would, by implication, be hospitable to mutual discovery and to the pursuit of interpersonal virtues like tolerance, equality, harmony and generosity.12

From my own Irish missionary perspective, informed by personal evangelising experiences in different parts of the world, mainly Africa, I view the sometimes controversial ‘reverse mission’13 strategy as more like ‘relational interdependence’. The traditional view of ‘reverse mission’ has generally meant missionaries, like myself, who left their own countries, would return and involve themselves in the activities of the local churches. Missionaries who return offer fresh insights and inspire faith within the local churches. However, I interpret ‘reverse mission’ differently. I perceive the exchange of gifts and persons from African, Asian, Oceanic, and South American countries, to Europe and North America and vice versa as opportunities for reciprocal interpersonal renewal toward an intercultural solidarity that 11 12 13

See Bosch, Transforming Mission, 456. See Lamin Sanneh, Encountering the West, 235. For a critique of the term ‘reverse mission’, a phrase that became popular about twenty years ago, see Donal Dorr, Mission in Today’s World (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2000), 270–273. Also, Anthony Gittins offers helpful insights into the phenomenon of ‘reverse mission’. See Anthony Gittins, Bread For The Journey, 55–71.

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enhances personhood. Such a perspective of mission will be a catalytic force and add momentum not only to the call for a ‘new evangelisation’ in Europe and the western world generally but will also reshape and renew evangelisation in the non-western cultures. For example, the exchange of insights, values, and services from a Turkana religious perspective can enrich an Irish religious sensibility and transform it to reveal a different perspicacity regarding God’s vision of inclusion, reconciliation, and forgiveness for the people of Ireland.14 Peace in Ireland today has largely been attained because of greater interconnectedness with the cultures of Europe, particularly through economic and political collaboration. Such an exchange has empowered the beginning of the dissolution of exclusivity regarding nationalism and religious sectarianism. Christian evangelisation concerns witnessing to and dialoguing with ‘God’s gift of Life’ symbolised in the Reign of God, revealed in a specific way by Jesus Christ. Social and religious transformation is a process that is fundamentally grounded in a human capacity to relate meaningfully and inclusively with one another, with God, with others, and with all of creation. The future of evangelisation will reside in what I call a process of communicative interpersonal interculturation. That is to say, the conversational process within and outside cultures and religious traditions is an interrelational activity in which faith and culture are in constant dialogue for mutual life-giving transformation.15 Some of this dialogue or conversation will happen through various liturgical practices and through the process of catechetical education. Base religious communities can provide an environment in which the living, conversing, sharing, and reflecting can occur in a local context. Such a milieu provides an ambit for interreligious soli-

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See Gittins, Bread For the Journey, 64; Gittins, Gifts and Strangers, 111–138. Sanneh, Encountering the West, 235. Transformation will include many ingredients which take account of cultural and religious attitudes and activities in the world. Sanneh names some of these elements when he argues ‘Tolerance of difference, equality in terms of our mutual inadequacies, harmony as a restraint on self-interest and generosity in preferring one another – these and more are the genuine currency of intercultural traffic and they invoke trust of a transcendent kind.’

darity to promote cultural empathy as well as to provide proximity for collaboration and partnership. Interreligious Collaboration Interreligious collaboration should suggest the possibility for mutuality and reciprocity with regard to the praxis of religious education within various religious traditions. In order to evangelise for a global solidarity that respects God’s presence already active within different cultures and religious traditions, partnership is essential. Such a partnership affirms particular religious identities as well as empowering their transcendence. Gittins contends that ‘true mutuality in mission demands that missioners be recipients as well as givers, and not just symbolically.’16 In relation to the Christian experience, the Gospel pursues appropriate expression locally while, at the same time, it is connected to the global church. An essential role of Christian evangelisation is the obligation to teach and model good communication skills so as to facilitate creative and meaningful conversation within diverse cultures and in the midst of plural religious perspectives. Participants need to be well grounded in their own religious traditions in order to be open and inclusive of different religious and cultural traditions. The on-going challenge for Christian evangelisation is to ensure that a dialogical faith formation is structured so as to share with diverse people the Christian world view reflected in scripture and its tradition. A significant component of the conversation is having the opportunity to listen to the story and religious vision of the other culture and religious tradition for ‘seeds of the Gospel.’ I believe such a disposition toward the other provides the ingredients of a firm foundation for justice as ‘right relationship’, in the biblical sense, for all in the world.

16

Gittins, Bread for the Journey, 64.

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B. Interculturation for Justice in a Shared World Compassion An implication of authentic religious interculturation is the understanding of the love of neighbour manifested through the ingredient of compassion for local and global justice.17 In Hebrew, the term compassion is rahamin and it refers to a person’s deepest feelings. It is also the word for a mother’s womb. Compassion encompasses the capacity to empathise with another’s pain and suffering, that is, to step into the shoes of another and understand their suffering as if it was one’s own.18 Essentially, compassion constitutes the ability to be in life-giving relationships, that is, we are called to be connected in a healthy way to others for multicultural human wellbeing. Such a welldisposed affiliation happens within the expanse of a community of relationships in which every human being becomes an individuated person with a unique identity. Douglas Sturm uses the term ‘Koinonia’ an early Christian Greek expression, to describe this ‘community of relationships’. Sturm states that it is ‘a kind of association through which participants find their identity in the give-and-take of their connectedness with each other.’19 It recognises the reality of our need for each other for our continued human wellbeing such as the story of the good Samaritan (Lk.10:29– 37) and Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophoenician (Mk.7:24–30) sym17

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For an overview of this insight, see Douglas Sturm Solidarity and Suffering: Toward a Politics of Relationality (New York, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998), 201–206. For the meaning of love and particularly agapic love rooted in the Christian notion of Trinity, see Michael J. Himes and Kenneth R. Himes, Fullness of Faith: The Public Significance of Theology (New York and Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1993), 56–63. See Diana Fritz Cates, Choosing to Feel: Virtue, Friendship, and Compassion for Friends (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1997), 5. Cates suggests that ‘Compassion is an abiding state of character. It is an intricate pattern of desires, beliefs, and perceptions – a pattern that disposes us, time and again, to receive and respond in a characteristic way to persons in pain.’ Sturm, Solidarity and Suffering, 284.

bolises. Viewing the world as essentially relational and connected will effect our personal and social responsibilities for the world. This relational and communitarian perspective informs my vision for compassion.20 Compassion, understood as an experience of the felt needs of others in a culturally, religiously, and politically diverse world, is needed to inspire justice and encourage world peace for human flourishing. This is so because justice depends upon people who can empathise in an informed emotional way with those who suffer. Martha Nussbaum defines such an informed emotional response as a ‘reasoned compassion’21 that takes account of the history, the religious experience, the cultural context, and the social reality of human beings. Such an informed compassion could lead to social, economic, and political arrangements that are just and which sustain peace locally and globally. These compassionate arrangements are dependent upon human beings participating in solidarity as citizens within global political and economic structures. From a theological perspective, the meaning of citizenship and solidarity is linked to the fundamental dignity of each human being.22 Compassion, in the Christian sense, constitutes our ability to respect that dignity and be responsible for creating social, religious, economic, and political arrangements that enhance the innate dignity of every person. Bridging the enormous gap between rich and poor depends upon awakening a global consciousness that each human life is integrally connected to the welfare of all. This paradigm 20

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See Catherine M. Harmer, The Compassionate Community: Strategies That Work for the Third Millennium (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1998), 1– 8. Harmer asserts that ‘The sense of belonging to one another is at the heart of any true community’ (7). Martha C. Nussbaum, ‘Compassion: The Basic Social Emotion’, Social Philosophy and Policy, 13 (1996): 27–58. This view of compassion takes account of the cognitive and affective dimensions of the human person for acting justly. For a detailed analysis of the significance of emotions in human lives, see also Martha C. Nussbaum, Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 297–454. See National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice For All, # 79– 124.

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for understanding the interconnectedness and interdependence of all people is rooted in the perceived and manifested vulnerability of those who suffer. Such a stance could motivate persons, local communities, nations, and international organisations toward providing and sharing global resources that enhance the marginalised desire for meaningful relationships. I propose that an ethic of compassion,23 grounded within the perspective of connectedness, can be developed through a pedagogy of critical consciousness discussed in chapter six. Such a pedagogy creates an awareness for the necessity of political, economic, religious, and cultural interdependency that fosters an interrelational solidarity. An openness to inner conversion toward the principles of the Gospel may eventually change pervasive negative prejudices regarding race, gender, culture, environment, or religion. Thus, an opportunity for respectful conversation can develop that addresses issues regarding fostering a global solidarity which takes into account the specific needs of every local context. This transformation is necessary for all engaged in understanding and responding to those who suffer from dehumanising consequences because of unjust social, economic, religious, and political arrangements. Those who suffer because of poverty especially should be included in such conversations. This inclusion of the economically poor would inform the global community of their human right to have decent economic, religious and political relationships to sustain their status as persons with dignity. It seems reasonable to suggest that compassion would be the personal and social emotion that could enable humanity to come together 23

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For more analysis of the moral implications of relationship, responsibility, and compassion, see Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1993), 98. Consequent upon her interviews with women, Gilligan observes ‘To admit the truth of the women’s perspective to the conception of moral development is to recognise for both sexes the importance throughout life of the connection between self and other, the universality of the need for compassion and care.’ See also Birch, Regaining Compassion, 105. Birch proposes that ‘The highest principle of love is to value one’s neighbor as oneself and to love God in the process. The fullness of love involves all our emotions (with infinite passion), all our will and mind, and all our strength in active participation.’

in global solidarity for a peaceful and just society. An intercultural understanding of compassion can be a central value within people’s character so that all people can be empowered to participate in the common good. Christian evangelisation plays an important collaborative role within diverse cultures in forming the character trait of compassion.24 This enables persons to become responsible for themselves and the world, especially learning to empathise with those who suffer, embracing and respecting them as citizens.25 Inclusive Citizenship The possibility of global solidarity is grounded in the meaning of global citizenship.26 Citizenship in a particular nation-state grants the right of participation in the affairs of that nation. However, in an age of globalisation limited citizenship within a single nation is not enough to sustain the dignity of many who have little access to crucial resources that move across boundaries such as capital for investment, food, technology, quality education, clean air, and information, etc. One major concern for economic globalisation is in relation to capital investment which multi-national corporations control and move without any allegiance to any state. This threatens the rights of workers in different countries as it exposes the shared environment to unregulated destruction.

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For Christians, this character formation is grounded in the words and actions of Jesus Christ. Scripture stories such as The Good Samaritan (Lk.10:29–36) and the Prodigal Son (Lk.15:11–32) reflect the character trait of compassion. For insights into compassion and the Christian life, see Diana Fritz Cates, Choosing to Feel, 208–237. In relation to the suffering of women, their equality and inclusion as participants in the church, especially in Asia and Africa, see Virginia Fabella and Mercy Amba Oduyoye, eds., With Passion and Compassion. For an overview of this concept, see Ulrich Beck, What is Globalisation?, trans. Patrick Camiller (Malden, Massachusetts: Polity/Blackwell Publishers, 2000), 113, 136. In relation to the phenomenon of globalisation, Beck outlines that the expectation and meaning of citizenship is expanded beyond the prescriptions and limits of a particular ethnic culture or nation-state.

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Interculturation and particularly religious interculturation is a rational and spiritual discourse for developing inclusive citizenship not only within specific cultural particularities but also along global or international lines of cooperation in the market place. It is imperative that a global search by every civilisation and religious tradition continues for ‘right relationships’ founded on justice for every person. Various religious traditions should concern themselves with discovering ways in which everyone can participate in the affairs of their world. The American Catholic Bishops in their pastoral letter have posited that ‘Basic Justice demands the establishment of minimum levels of participation in the life of the human community for all persons.’27 How are these basic minimum levels of participation accomplished? How can every human being, created in the image and likeness of God with ‘an inalienable dignity that stamps human existence prior to any division into races or nations and prior to human labor and human achievement’,28 be recognised within economic and social arrangements? To restore human dignity within the global community of humanity, we need to put in place just political and economic systems that reflect the reality that each person is created in the image of God.29 Participation in a human community is crucial to sustain every person’s human dignity since relationships constitute the fabric for our essential personhood.30 To consider citizenship as ‘right relationship’ means that participation and relational solidarity within a multicultural world are essential to address poverty, marginalisation, and discrimination. This view reflects the uncovering of God’s intention which is an unconditional citizenship of meaningful participation in life-giving relationship within God’s reign. Our personal and collective identities and common understandings of who we are and where we belong in a commu27 28 29 30

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Economic Justice For All, # 77. Ibid., # 32. Ibid., # 79–95. Ibid., # 77. The bishops suggest that ‘The ultimate injustice is for a person or group to be treated actively or abandoned passively as if they were non-members of the human race.’

nity are found within specific relationships and socialisations within cultures, traditions, histories, and religions, etc. Yet, these particularities do not hold exclusive rights to citizenship if this means some have no access to global resources necessary for the common good. Consequently, Christian evangelisation as an intercultural educative process within diverse cultures and among a multiplicity of religious perspectives, offers the world both a specific and a universal vision for promoting a compassionate world citizenship. An essential aspect of this evangelisation is the creating of liberative zones whereby every person has an opportunity to participate in the life of culture and religious experience to nurture them as personsin-relationship. I suggest the move toward participatory intercultural democracy as a step towards achieving life-giving and meaningful citizenship. Participatory Intercultural Democracy Participatory democracy, a product of the modern era, is probably the best way to ensure that human dignity is promoted and sustained. Such a democracy means that citizens can participate in a meaningful and life-giving way in the activity of governing themselves. Not only is nation-state democratic participation necessary, but a significant outcome of reciprocal interculturation, including religious, should be seeking also life-giving ways for partnership within a global reality. Within such religious and civil arrangements, the basic human rights of every person, such as the right to life, freedom, material needs, and meaningful relationships, etc., are sought and protected. Beginning with the individual person in a specific community like a village or small town, there are structures in which people can deliberate about their human concerns. For example, the Turkana know suffering evoked through chronic famine which fractures a meaningful relationship with themselves, others, creation, and God. Nevertheless, as I discussed in chapter five, they live and model a compassionate way of life in how they share their animals, in times of severe hardship, with others of the community.

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If religious differences, diverse cultural perceptions, and varied political attitudes are to be accepted, there ought to be a public imagination31 that can reason both cognitively and affectively to come to a common ground on the meaning of human identity, potential, and dignity in a multicultural world. Such reasoning could lead to a shared responsibility for developing compassionate national and global public policies, religious institutions, and economic structures for the wellbeing of every person.32 Interculturation of this nature encompasses not only political and economic cooperation but it also imagines the collaboration of religious and cultural world views to uncover the potential for actualising the Gospel vision.33 Such solidarity and cooperation envisions action toward both a local and global governance which is inclusive of all and guided by the Gospel. Toward Local and Global Intercultural Governance Both local and global interpersonal solidarity imply the capacity to be with people in meaningful interdependent relationships. The principle of subsidiarity34 promulgated by the Christian vision applies so that every human being has an opportunity to participate at the local and global levels to realise the cosmic common good for all. This is to say, the greater good of society is not realised through each individual pursuing his or her self-interest or by the whim of unregulated market forces. Social participation both local and global requires respect for 31 32

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I am thinking here about the public political sphere in which an informed social emotion should be fashioned to respond appropriately to suffering and tragedy. The well-being of every person is dependent upon participation in the resources of both their countries and the world community. A regulated, compassionate market place can be envisioned as essential for a minimum level of participation that produces profit for the benefit of everyone. See Harmer, The Compassionate Community: Strategies That Work for the Third Millennium, 9–14. Harmer contends that ‘A rediscovery of the wealth of the spiritual culture which is basic to all religions can help us come to a renewed sense of a compassionate and just community’ (10). For an overview of this principle, see the American Bishops’ Pastoral Letter: Economic Justice For All, # 99.

the dignity of all human beings, freedom for individual persons to pursue their destinies, and participation and solidarity in community within compassionate economic trade policies. This means individual nation-states and the international community are called upon to regulate and control market forces through legislation that is inclusive of the needs of every person and community. This may call for the formation of a more independent, democratic, and inclusive world government.35 Christian Education for Local and Global Responsibility In as much as Christian religious education is concerned with finding and using different conversational paradigms, the process is always challenged to promote local and global liberation of the individual human person in community. In the previous chapter, I presented a particular paradigm for conversation that may offer a way to enable meaningful intercultural interaction. Religious education generally is challenged to include an openness to how God is not only revealed among diverse religions but also the way God is mediated within secular or non-religious world views as well. A religious intercultural conversation should include ways in which non-religious perspectives impact on the meaning and purpose of human life. Consequent upon this understanding, I perceive all evangelisation as having potential to empower individual persons and their communities to move beyond 35

For example, a more global representation within the United Nations forum which includes voices from poorer countries may assist in achieving better living standards for every nation or group of nations. A more expanded and comprehending United Nations might have power to regulate markets and dissolve emerging world economic oligarchies that have no obligation toward any culture, religion, or nation. Then, the disadvantaged, particularly within developing countries that contain other strata of economically and culturally poorer people, like the Turkana in Kenya, will have an opportunity to participate in decision-making to achieve their personal dignity. Education generally and Christian education particularly is crucial to form the minds, hearts, and hands of every person to achieve a global as well as local responsibility for active participation in reconstructing a better world.

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boundaries of religion, ideology, race, gender, and ethnicity. Such evangelisation evokes a politics of interrelational interdependence in which religious and non-religious world views play an important role. The struggle for human freedom, especially for the economically poor and those socially, politically, culturally, and religiously marginalised, relies on a belief that goodwill or an innate capacity to desire the good resides within all human beings. This goodwill is evoked within every person in order to shape life-giving political, economic, social, and religious structures. Such arrangements are necessary for meaningful citizenship in an age of globalised interculturation. I view reciprocal and mutual intercultural exchanges as a way to further develop possibilities for new global and intercultural awareness that stimulates more inclusive strategies for cooperation. Intercultural Exchanges To the extent that intercultural exchanges are crucial to understanding the necessity for both local and global structures that protect relationships, they are indispensable for meaningful participation in the life of society.36 Consequently, an intercultural Christian evangelisation within every context ought to include the study of the religious, political, social, and economic arrangements within that historical domain. But this is not limited to knowing and understanding information regarding local contexts. Knowledge of diverse peoples, their religious and cultural experiences, are important for a sense of solidarity within a local and global landscape. For example, Turkana students, among others, need to interact with information concerning other cultures, religions, classes, races, and nationalities, that are different from their own.37 36 37

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See Economic Justice For All, 45. Every situation will be different and an intercultural evangelisation will need to take account of the particular circumstances of culture, religion, and politics in a particular context. For example, if people in the United States of America studied native American spirituality would this education make a difference to how American policy is shaped concerning the lives of American Indians? Could such study influence environment policy and enrich diverse religious

It is not sufficient to only learn the facts of different cultures and religions, but it is also important to find ways in which students can to be connected to people’s lives through an intercultural and interreligious participation that offers valid and meaningful interpretation of human experience. This is to say, active interpretative participation for social justice is augmented through engaging in social issues impacting on everyone’s cultural perspective. The critiquing of dehumanising structures like the treatment and exclusion of women from initiation rites within the Turkana culture can be a way to discuss the need for equality and the meaning of dignity within the diversity and plurality of cultures and religions. At the same time, there is a necessity to affirm life-giving elements in every culture and religious world view by considering the way in which people respect and honour God, themselves, ancestors, and creation around them. People’s imaginations can be transformed as they engage in the interpretation of their life situations within different cultural contexts. For the transformation of imaginations, I have two suggestions. First, in the context of schools, it is important that students be exposed to other cultures. Second, I suggest that students spend some of their school time, and not just vacation periods, learning in another school within a different cultural, economic, and religious perspective. I am convinced that this would awaken a different consciousness towards the poor and the need for a reasoned compassionate response. The sharing can be reciprocal. The economically poor, particularly, should have an opportunity to travel and participate in so-called First and Second world schools. Even within the same country, it may be possible for financially poor students to have an educational opportunity within a school in a rich area and vice versa in order to create a consciousness for equity. Eventually, this might enable the development of a global intercultural wakefulness that could help maintain and promote greater interdependence. The teaching of social justice ought not only be conceptualised, but can also be imagined through interacting with the lived human experience of suffering in diverse cultures. In relation to the formation world views? Such intercultural exchanges could be very significant for the enrichment of all within this context.

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process of Christian missionaries, there needs to be intercultural experiences that empower missionaries to embrace diversity wherever they may find it. For those who may not have an opportunity to travel and experience education within a different culture, missionaries and others who return to their home countries have some obligation to educate and initiate a conscientisation that creates a new cultural and religious consciousness. An example of this in Ireland is the role that the Irish Missionary Union, among other organisations, plays in evoking global awareness for the disadvantaged. Such developments envisioned by interculturation can move civilisations and religious world views to seeking reconciliation and peace in a shared world.

C. Reconciliation and Peace in an Interconnected World The Intercultural Marketplace The importance of collaborating and forming partnerships for reconciliation and peace is crucial for living in a multicultural environment that promotes a global marketplace. Religious and cultural structures for collaboration such as the Parliament of the World’s Religions38 and the World Council of Churches can promote constructive conversation for reconciliation and peace within cultures and the marketplace. For human wellbeing everywhere, it is essential that the global market be founded upon just economic and political arrangements that include and enhance the vulnerable and marginalised in the life of society. The reason for this is to ensure that the dignity of every human being, including the most vulnerable, is promoted and sustained. Human flourishing depends upon freedom to achieve both personal and communal potential through life-giving choices within a web of interdependent relationships. Access to markets and essential resources are necessary to foster choices for the good of persons as well as 38

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For a perspective on the work of this world organisation, see Hans Küng and Karl-Josef Kuschel, eds., A Global Ethic, 13–16.

the common good of society. Such freedom can be realised through nurturing spiritual values of love, justice, peace, and reconciliation within every culture and religious tradition. The intercultural marketplace cannot be a hospitable space for the dignity of all if there is no clear shared education, religious and secular, that fosters values concerning the uniqueness and worth of every human being, who is a person-in-relationship. The concern, then, for global human wellbeing is not just the responsibility of Christian mission but it should also include the response of different religious viewpoints so that God’s life-giving relational intention is manifested everywhere. Reconciliation can be taught through a pedagogy of conversation based upon the evolutions outlined in chapter six (see figure 6.2, p.245). Such intentional conversations, focused on issues of reconciliation, enable participants to move across boundaries that are usually considered socially fixed to explore the sense of tragedy, suffering, joy, and loss in life. Participants learn how to embrace and integrate these events into the ebb and flow of their lives. For example, the use of drama, documentaries, films, and lived experience in different cultures or within multicultural contexts, can evoke the importance of life-giving collaboration within different relationships. Such an approach can educate participants toward understanding historical conflicts, cultural transformations, and religious aspirations evolving in the world. Developments in the world such as the growth of extreme religious fundamentalism, the Jewish holocaust, the genocide in Rwanda, the Irish famine, the poverty around the world, and the terror attacks in the United States and elsewhere, among numerous other tragic circumstances, provide an array of complex issues that need understanding for reconciliation and peace in the world. It is crucial to avoid simplistic solutions to problematical personal and communal ills. Remembering history and listening to those who have been victims of cultural and religious imperialism is significant for educating towards an awareness of poverty, discrimination, and oppression within every culture. Ritualised remembering raises a level of awareness of the structures and systems of power and the networks of conspiracy that enmesh human freedom, enforce cultural and religious superiorities, and perpetuate widespread suffering, 279

oppression, and misfortune upon the weakest of society. Then, perhaps a more intuitive and permanent response can be sustained to strengthen action to alleviate these destructive forces. Once there is a different awareness created there is the possibility of providing meaningful structures and institutions to serve the needs of all. School education programmes, adult learning schemes, media networks, cinema, internet communications, among other methods forming people’s lives are powerful instruments shaping society. These tools have enormous potential to influence the prospects for a more inclusive and empathic society. There is a danger that empathy as a basis for morality may be eroded due to a culture that teaches violence and hate. Such a peril seems to permeate the entire world. People generally, and the young particularly, are learning that the only way to success is to eliminate and alienate the other from meaningful participation in the human community through unfair economic, cultural, political, and even religious practices that bring fragmentation to families and communities. In such an economic and cultural climate of downsizing personnel to increase profiteering, the nurturing and protection needed to create an environment for empathy is fast disappearing. Schools and faith-based communities can be places where empathy is a constitutive part of a nurturing education. Reconciliation and peace modelled within schools, homes, and places of worship can then spill over into the political and economic sphere. Engaging the imagination of people using symbols of reconciliation and inclusivity within the Christian tradition such as Jesus interacting with the Samaritan woman (Jn.4:1–42), the story of the prodigal and the dutiful son (Lk.15:11–32), even the Syrophoenician woman’s encounter with Jesus (Mk.7:24–30) can enable personal and social transformation. Consciousness toward cultural and intercultural reconciliation can be shaped within faith communities and assist in helping to imagine more empathetic political structures and economic policies that reflect inclusivity and participation for human flourishing in a growing interdependent world. Within a global intercultural marketplace, the vision for the abundance of life embraced by Christianity is essentially more important than the specific cultural accretions in which it is manifested. For 280

instance, the Turkana people have a vision for the wholeness of life through relationship with their ancestors and their God, Akuj. Christians have a vision of the fullness of life through the symbol of God’s reign through Jesus Christ. Though both visions are not the same, they offer particular insights into life and meaning for themselves and the world at large. What is important is that the world of the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalised are included and consulted regarding their experience of dehumanising conditions. Every religious tradition has a responsibility to shape its structures, its worship practices, and its institutions to reflect a wholistic claim to the truth. Even though cultural systems are intrinsic to embodying philosophical and theological visions, no particular cultural or religious system can claim particular superiority in the way it manifests a vision of a better future. Interreligious and Intercultural Soteriology As alluded to in chapter three, there seems to be a shift toward a Spirit soteriology which may enable Christian evangelisation to transcend the particularity of its own historical Christocentric paradigm.39 That 39

In chapter three, I outlined the significance of Jesus’ observation regarding worship and the transcending of religious particularities. Jesus said, ‘the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem’ (Jn.4:21). He further claimed that ‘God is spirit, and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth’(v.24). By underlining the Spirit’s role in God’s mission for the world, such a move highlights God’s universal action that goes beyond the cultural particularity of the historical Jesus without excluding this incarnation of God’s Spirit. Pope John Paul II emphasises the work of the Spirit for Christian mission which is the Spirit of God operative through Jesus Christ. See Redemptoris Missio, # 28–29. See Gavin D’ Costa, ‘Christ, The Trinity, and Religious Plurality’, in Gavin D’Costa, ed., Christian Uniqueness Reconsidered: The Myth of a Pluralistic Theology of Religions (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1990), 17. Using Trinitarian language, D’Costa contends that ‘the Trinity also affirms, by means of the two other persons, that God is constantly revealing himself through history by means of the Holy Spirit.’ He further adds that ‘Such a Christocentric Trinitarianism thereby facilitates an openness to the world religions, for the activity of the Spirit cannot be confined to Christianity.’ See

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is to say, the focus of evangelisation is on God’s universal Spirit which can be found in every person, culture, and religious perspective and which is actively present in a loving and saving relationship everywhere. For Christians, though, the specific history of God becoming incarnated into a specific culture and history can never be ignored. For Christians, God’s Spirit is specifically known and revealed in Jesus Christ. This is a trinitarian relationship that is particular to the Christian world view and cannot be conflated with a different manifestation of God’s universal Spirit in a diverse religious perspective. By emphasising the universal Spirit of God, the particularity of the historical circumstances of the incarnation is transcended to give way to the globalisation of the Gospel vision for every culture. The Gospel ultimately belongs to and comes from God. For Christians it was given by God to Jesus Christ and revealed by him to the world. Though the Christian perspective of an incarnational God is unique and offers a specific vision for life-giving relationship to the world, it is important to note that other religious and cultural visions offer different visions of God or different levels of transcendence. These diverse viewpoints have various relational qualities and thus, like the Christian vision, hold salvific value universally. Clearly, all religions and cultures are not the same or equal and thus one is not as good as the other. The validity of each soteriological claim, that is, their view on salvation, can only be comprehended and lived out in a context of conversation and witness to life-giving aspects of each vision. Religions are not ends in themselves but must fundamentally be concerned about the abundance of life and freedom from oppressive forces such as evil spirits, poverty, destruction of the environment, and all forms human suffering, etc. Given the universal desire for also Gavin D’Costa, The Meeting of Religions and the Trinity (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2000), 109–132. For an analysis of Spirit Christology, see Haight, Jesus: Symbol of God, 445–466. See also, Dupuis, Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism, 300. See Knitter, Jesus and the Other Names, 111–118. Knitter suggests that ‘When such a trinitarian theology is applied to missiology and a theology of religions, we are enabled and required [...] to admit that what the Spirit may be doing beyond the church, within other religions can be different from what the incarnate Word has revealed in the church’ (113).

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human freedom, that is, the yearning for meaningful relationships, each soteriological vision offers responses to the nature, meaning, and purpose of human life toward God’s reign. I believe that this approach which is mutual and respectful will enhance efforts for reconciliation and peace in a shared world. This paradigm of reciprocal conversation and action for improving human participation in an age of intercultural globalisation seeks to discover the fullness of God’s revelation and intention for life within the diversity of religious experience. For Christian pastoral agents or missionaries, then, the structures of belief that give rise to a conviction about errors or deficiencies existing in other religious perspectives should be balanced with the realisation that we are all vulnerable and in need of God’s blessing and forgiveness. Implications for Pastoral Agents For pastoral agents everywhere, engaging in a process of intercultural and interreligious activity may break the monopoly of monocultural and exclusivist religious perspectives that perpetuate one-way domesticating relationships. Gittins suggests One-sided relationships are not relationships at all, and a person forced to receive from an almoner or almsgiver and unable or forbidden to reciprocate in any way can quickly come to hate the powerful and patronising donor. Real mutuality is just that: healthy interdependence, which expresses itself as much in simple gratitude as in expansive generosity. And if our missionary pilgrimage of grace is to be a truly communal journey, then there must be real mutuality, comprised of receiving and giving, and acknowledging both the vulnerability and strength, the sanctity and the sinfulness of true ‘companions’ – those who break and share their bread.40

Pastoral agents who belong to various missionary movements, religious societies, and lay associations are challenged to be exemplars of the kind of interculturation which I have outlined. For example, 40

Gittins, Bread for the Journey, 64. In relation to this point, see also Thomas M. Thangaraj, The Common Task: A Theology of Christian Mission (Nashville, Tennessee: Abington Press, 1999), 77–99.

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around the world many religious congregations have a multicultural membership which reflects, in an age of growing intercultural activity, that religious communities are or should be developing new intercultural visions for evangelisation. In 1993 the community of St. Patrick’s Missionary Society, in which I am an active member, decided upon a process of internationalising its community membership.41 New members from different cultures will eventually be participating with us in the evangelising process. Depending on the quality of our international formation programme, our previous evangelisation strategy that reflected dominant Irish cultural values will give way to a multicultural array of strategies which will enrich every cultural perspective in our missionary society. Since most of our new members are joining us from the countries in which we have an evangelising presence, this means there will be an opportunity for a vision of evangelisation that is authentically diverse and reciprocal. This action toward interculturation, not only within the missionary community that I belong to, but also within other ordained and non-ordained evangelising movements, is transforming cultural and religious identities everywhere. Such developments change our 41

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For St. Patrick’s missionaries, this recent decision was a significant and controversial commitment. Founded by an Irish priest, Patrick Whitney, in 1932, the process of ‘internationalisation’ began in Ireland, England, Scotland, and the United States. This basic experience has now given way to a much broader international configuration which is currently evolving mainly within subSaharan Africa. Perhaps, it was during the middle of the 1980s that a different understanding of internationalisation unfolded for the Society as the vision of the world, church, and mission changed. Prior to this latest reconfiguration of St. Patrick’s Missionary Society, much emphasis was given to fostering indigenous clergy particularly in Africa. Could this policy have indicated a form of unconscious racism that served as a rationale for exclusion? All of the Society’s seminary formation programmes have now moved to African countries. Recently, Brazil has been included as a region for recruiting members. These potential members will experience most of their priestly formation within Africa. Could this symbolise an unconscious xenophobia in breaking with the church and St. Patrick’s Society in Europe? These are important developments for the future of St. Patrick’s missionaries. Such ongoing questions are significant for interpreting the concept of ‘reverse mission’ as cultural and religious interdependence that reciprocates an exchange of gifts and persons everywhere in the world.

perception of Christian mission not only in an age of economic globalisation but also within the activity of global interculturation that is both religious and social. Evangelisation is no longer a one way paradigm where missionaries originating in Ireland and the West generally travelled to Africa, Asia, Oceania, and South America. Nor is evangelisation focused on bringing European cultural, economic, and political development to those places where this influence is seen by Europeans as beneficial for Africans. Rather, the sharing of the Gospel vision is becoming a reciprocated process whereby people from other continents now share in the evangelising of the world which transforms the missionary enterprise. Thus, a new centre is emerging from the margins of African, South American, Asian, and Oceanic communities of Christian faith that will transform the old centre of Christianity dominant in Europe and administered in Rome. The heart core now of Christianity is numerically situated within these continents, especially in their burgeoning cities. This fact changes how evangelisation will be perceived in the future, especially how the Gospel will be diversely appropriated, embodied, and shared with the world. To conclude this chapter, pastoral agents are challenged to channel the vision of the Gospel in ways that foster life-giving relationships for an interdependent and interreligious global world. Through our mutual collaborative efforts in God’s mission, the universal Gospel can ripple within the oceans of all our human activity (see figure 7, p.286). The advancement of fresh life is not only found within the cultures and religious practices that formed us, but it is also reflected within cultures and religious traditions that call us to become more than we already are.

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Compassionate Marketplace Personal and Inclusive Communal Citizenship Transforma tion

Gospel-Global Ethic For Human Life

Ecological Environment Solidarity in Diversity SocioParticipative Economic Democracy

Right Relationships

Peace and Reconciliation Interreligious Collegiality

Figure 7: Imagining Global Religious and Cultural Interdependence

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General Conclusion

Throughout this study I have been exploring the concept of religious and theological interculturation. I have focused particularly on the way in which this idea can shape a fresh paradigm of Christian evangelisation. The analysis of biblical, historical, and contemporary examples of interculturation gives a broad spectrum of the way in which an interdependent religious and theological interculturation functions. Building upon and going beyond the concept of inculturation, the thought and practise of interculturation gives better scope to understanding religious cultural activity between religions. This activity aims at fostering mutual acceptance and appreciation of what is true and life-giving in them.

Another Theological Concept? Do Christian representatives of the Gospel need another concept to add to the already existing list of difficult terminology? In my view the notion of religious interculturation is different from previous concepts. As I have argued inculturation as it has developed and been practised over the years does not go far enough into discovering the deeper realms of truth contained in diverse religious traditions. Inculturation has been a specifically Christian initiative to evangelise others to become Christians. It does not allow sufficiently for the possibility that life-giving meaning and spirituality existing in diverse cultures and religions may already be serving adequately the needs of these cultures. Ricci and his friends met this reality in China with Confucianism. The vision of interculturation offers an opportunity for mutual religious collaboration in discovering the truth. Such collaboration can

take the form of multilateral prayer meetings, joint justice programmes, peace initiatives, or shared humanitarian projects. The truth, what Christians call Gospel, can be affirmed and embodied in these ventures. It is important that the structures and institutions which are shaped through collaborative plans respect the identity and integrity of every religious tradition dedicated to sustaining human dignity. The danger of absolutising a particular religious world view is diminished when there is genuine collaboration. Each life-giving religious tradition may contain its own absolutes, such as the truth revealed by the historical Jesus for Christians, but these absolutes may not be normative for all. Rather, the transcendent and universal dimension of these norms (like the Christ of faith offering hope for Christians) can be shared by others as this aspect moves beyond the specificity of historical particularity. Within an evangelising act, truth is shared, accepted, and appreciated. This means that not only are similarities celebrated but the life-giving differences between individual persons and their religious world views are also acknowledged and endorsed.

Religious Evangelisation All religious evangelisation, including Christian mission, has a responsibility to recognise that imposing a specific religious world view (chapter one) or proselytising for a particular religious path does not create conditions for human freedom. Learning to embrace the goodness embodied in various religious world views is the mission task ahead. Religious and theological collaboration can go a long way toward ensuring a just peace, toward promoting reconciled forgiveness, and toward enhancing mutual enrichment for all. Though this work has not surveyed all aspects of interculturation, it has, I hope, done enough to evoke some imaginative thinking on how best to serve the human quest for life and meaning everywhere. From a religious and theological standpoint, the task from the outset has focused on understanding more completely the process of interculturation as it influences spiritual and faith development. The res288

ources of cultural anthropology assisted in constructing an appropriate religious embodiment of the spirituality of what Christians refer to as the Gospel. A deep knowledge of cultural contexts creates an imagination for fashioning fresh theological insights to reveal a God as yet neither known or appreciated. A practical methodology for the practice of interculturation can emerge which I outlined in chapter six.

Concerns Regarding Interculturation In as much as chapter two addressed the notion of what I mean by interculturation, I feel there may be some outstanding issues remaining for discussion. In the current age of increasing economic as well as cultural and religious globalisation, religions themselves and their unique visions could become relativised. The view that one religion is as good as another may dissolve the impulse to evangelise with urgency. The uniqueness of each religion is a worry for some as religions and cultures interact and become more interdependent. For example the uniqueness of the Jesus Christ event for Christians poses some challenges and opportunities for Christian evangelisation. My objective throughout the book has been to consistently maintain the integrity of boundaries for religious identity. However, there comes a point when identity is expanded and boundaries move such as with Jesus in Samaria and Tyre, Ricci in China, and evangelisation among the Turkana. While I suggest that some life-giving syncretism is necessary and essential, this does not mean the capitulation of religious and theological integrity for Christianity. Nor does it mean that for Christians the uniqueness of the Jesus Christ event is reduced or assimilated. Interculturation proposes the mutual discovery of lifegiving truth (what Christians experience and know as Gospel values) already active in every cultural context and religious world view. Such an interdependent cultural and religious collaboration is ultimately concerned with spiritual transcendence for the wellbeing of all. Religions and cultures provide not an end, but a means for arriving at the

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space where there is a life-giving and meaningful relationship with ourselves, others, the environment, and God. Some Christians may disagree with the concept of interculturation on the grounds that the Gospel loses aspects of its transcendent nature. I have argued that the Gospel (truth) cannot be known outside a culture and its religious symbolism. Yet, does a specific culture or religion contain all the truth? From a biblical perspective, chapter three dealt with this to some extent. The analysis of the Samaritan woman and the Syrophoenician woman showed that the truth could be discovered and observed in other cultures and religions outside Judaism.

Why Christian Mission ? I started out this work by tracing the history of Christian mission to help me imagine a life-giving methodology for engaging diverse cultures and religions. Drawing on my experience of ministering among the Turkana enabled a fresh imagination to emerge for exploring some consequences of interculturation on the global front. Interculturation is not a magic potion to solve complex problems inflicting the world. Solutions to particular social and religious conflicts are not easy to find let alone enact. Rather, an intercultural concept of collaboration, at least on the religious and theological front, allows, in a limited way, some possibilities for multilateral partnerships which could lead to more justice, compassion, and reconciliation in the world. Inspiring spirituality sometimes goes further than religious and theological language. A wholistic spirituality takes account of every aspect of human experience in the world. The political, economic, social, and religious spheres of life shape our perceptions of the world. In an age of increasing intercultural and interreligious exchange, our faith may be strengthened and our lives enriched by our ability to share and live our truth. At the end of the day, Christian mission is very relevant. In their responsibility to serve all humanity, Christian pastoral agents need to 290

perceive themselves as both givers and receivers of love reflected in care and compassion. In addition to witnessing to the Christian religious vision and identity in the world, Christians are encouraged to view evangelisation in every culture as a mutual and reciprocal endeavour to bring life and meaning to all. Such an endeavour will be reflected in four areas: (1) a commitment to the observation and affirmation of Gospel truth, (2) participation in multi-dimensional conversations aimed at sharing faith, (3) developing religious partnerships to shape local theology, and (4) collaboration with diverse religious traditions for inclusive relationships.1 Through this strategy of interculturation a fresh impulse for loving and saving ourselves, others, and the environment will emerge.

1

See Thomas G. Grenham, ‘Reconstructing Christian Culture toward the Globalisation of Gospel Vision: Identity, Empowerment, and Transformation in an African Context’, Missiology: An International Review, 31 2(2003), 236.

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Postscript Stoking the Embers of Solidarity within Intercultural Relationships

Since the tragedy of September 11th, 2001 and subsequent wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and numerous terrorist attacks around the world, this study cannot be limited to the interests of Christian missionaries. Such an exploration of religious and theological interculturation may be of considerable significance to those of other religious traditions who are actively engaged with local and global issues for human wellbeing. The principles outlined regarding Christianity and an African traditional religion are applicable for any diverse religious faith tradition engaged with people who seek to discover and observe for themselves their own truth. In light of the continuing threat of fanatical religious fundamentalism within some religious traditions, including Christianity, this may be an opportune time to have increased religious interculturation for greater cooperation. One such example would be to enhance and enrich both Christianity and Islam in their efforts for the alleviation of poverty caused by economic and political self-interest. From a Christian viewpoint, pope John Paul II, in his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation at the end of the African synod in 1994, stated that ‘Integral human development – the development of every person and of the whole person, especially of the poorest and most neglected in the community – is at the very heart of evangelisation.’1 In order for Christian missionaries to bear witness to the Gospel of Jesus so as to convey hope to the poorest of the poor through enabling their meaningful participation in the life of society, it is necessary to journey with the poor in life-giving relationships as partners. Once our focus becomes the ‘poorest of the poor’ we are challenged beyond the 1

John Paul II, ‘Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation’, in Maura Browne, ed., The African Synod: Documents, Reflections, Perspectives, 253.

borders of Christianity. Such partnership with the poorest of the poor and marginalised provides an emotional solidarity that is grounded in an empathetic understanding of what it is like to suffer constant cultural humiliation, economic and political dehumanisation, and denial of basic human rights.2 The focus of future missionary endeavours should be on exploring ways in which we can be with those who are ‘different’ without feeling we should do something for them. Rather, the theology of incarnation, in which God is with us in life-giving relationship through Jesus Christ, invites us to be with those who suffer loss and disease, those who are broken by poverty and marginalisation, and those who seek hope and assurance in an age of uncertainty. Such an approach to future mission is not about necessarily ‘inserting’ this relationship into every culture and religious tradition. Rather, the incarnational relationship of God with ourselves, others, and the whole of creation invites Christians to discover manifestations of this relationship already active and present in every person and cultural context. There is a need to move away from the language of ‘inserting’ the Gospel as it reflects imposition of faith rather than empowering people to discover for themselves the gift of life in relationship with God. I suggest the language of ‘discovering’ or ‘uncovering’ or ‘observing’ the Gospel already present and active in culture and religious world views may be a more appropriate response to the signs of the times. The reason missionaries continue to go to all nations is to uncover as well as to share the ‘good news’ concerning the humanisation of every person toward God. For Christians, humanisation is envisioned through meaningful and life-giving relationships reflected in God’s relational intentionality spoken and embodied by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.3 The process of Christian evangel2

3

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This should, in theory, be an easy task for Irish missionaries who, themselves, are heirs to constant cultural, religious and political humiliation within their history. For an outline of a relational theology, see Mary C. Grey, Prophecy and Mysticism: The Heart of the Postmodern Church (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1997), 23– 41.

isation is aimed at empowering a global responsibility for the dignity of all. There is a necessity, given the current global interdependence of cultures, for an interreligious and intercultural relationality that seeks boundless life for everyone, especially for those who have yet to discover life-giving relationships within social structures. At the core of the Christian missionary enterprise within the worldwide church is the vision of the Gospel which reflects a lifegiving relationship with God, ourselves, and the whole of creation. God entering into our human condition within a particular culture in a specific time in history offers the world an opportunity to subscribe to a faithful, unconditional covenant relationship. Because God desires a life-giving relationship with us, we are invited to share the fruitfulness of this relationship with everyone. We are invited to empower others, in a collaborative manner, to discover for themselves God’s relational action reflected first through their own culture and religious tradition; then, if possible, on a broader plane. Rather than plant an alien institutional church among peoples, we are called to nurture life-giving companionships that reflect not only who we are as persons but also that we are dependent upon each other to sustain our mutual dignity as persons. Relationships are vital for the growth and transformation of every person in every culture and religious tradition. Dupuis intimates that Religious human beings subsist not as separated individuals but as members of determinate religious communities with particular traditions. They grow and become by sharing the religious life of their respective communities, by entering personally into the respective historical religious tradition in which they are placed, and by taking up its social manifestations, ideas and teaching, moral code and ritual practices.4

Therefore, the underlying principles for Christian evangelisation are witness to the Gospel vision and conversation grounded in one’s own Christian faith perspective. These become the criteria for a shared ethical vision within the global community of relationships manifested 4

Dupuis, Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism, 317. See also Jacques Dupuis, Christianity and the Religions: From Confrontation to Dialogue (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2002), 218–235.

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within particular cultures and religious perspectives. Christian religious education is challenged to hand on the universal vision of the Gospel in a manner which includes and appropriates wisdom from within diverse cultures and religious traditions so that the global common good is served. According to Knitter ‘the relationship between Christianity and other religions, as between all religions, today needs to be not only dialogical but also globally responsible.’5 That is to say, our diverse religious perspectives, as well as our various non-religious viewpoints, need to be grounded in a universal ethic of compassion and justice that enhances global responsibility for the flourishing of human fruitfulness in our shared world. Global human suffering, world peace, social and gender issues, and global environmental devastation, and so on, are relational priorities not just for Christian evangelisation but should challenge the evangelising strategies of other world religions as well. Thus, life-giving relationships can be sustained for the global good when all are included in the life of society, have access to the global goods of creation, and can participate meaningfully in the endeavour to improve their cultures as well as their religious practices. We go forth as faithful disciples in a spirit of authentic humility to offer our friendship and vision to the world in the hope that we can create, with the blessing of God, a divine domain here on earth.

5

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Knitter, Jesus and the Other Names, 160. Knitter further suggests that ‘Coming together on ethical issues would eventually lead to conversations on the doctrinal and ritual levels’ (161). See Hans Küng, Global Responsibility. See also Raimon Panikkar, The Intrareligious Dialogue. Panikkar contends that dialogue is an essential ingredient for all religions which seek the fullness of every human being. In relation to his proposals for an ecumenical ecumenism, he concludes that this ‘implies the rediscovery of a basic and enduring task of religion: to contribute to the freeing of a full humanness for humanity’ (109).

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accommodation 23, 47, 54, 60, 131, 132–134 – see also cultural accommodation action and reflection 218–220 adaptation 44, 49, 54–56, 62, 132, 137, 161 advocacy 219, 238 Afghanistan 18, 90 Africa 22, 27, 34, 37–41, 46, 48–49, 60, 62, 163, 216, 229, 264–265, 285 sub-Saharan 33–35, 37, 47–49, 70, 128 African continent 18, 33, 48, 49 African indigenous religions 34, 84, 261 African synod 293 age of ‘discovery’ 139–143 age of exploration 30, 33, 140 American Catholic Bishops 272 ancestors 70, 77, 78, 122, 127, 128–129, 133, 152, 157, 160–163, 173, 184–185, 187, 188–189, 192, 195, 196, 198, 200, 201, 202, 203, 205, 206, 207, 208, 221, 236, 249, 254, 262, 277, 281 another theological concept? 287–288 apartheid 226 Aquinas, Thomas 151 Arrupe, Pedro 56 Asia 34, 144, 153, 264, 285 assimilation 44, 46, 50, 62, 161 Barrett, Anthony J. 173, 175, 186, 187, 192, 193, 194 base religious communities 250–251, 266 Baur, John 58, 59 Bellarmine, Robert 134–135

Bible Gen.3:12 208 Gen.3:1–24 208 Jn.4:1–42 20, 23, 89, 90–105, 107, 248 Jn.8:1–11 248 Lk.4:18–19 234 Lk.8:43–56 248 Lk.10:29–37 262, 268 Lk.15:11–32 205, 280 Lk.25:35–36 234 Mk.7:24–30 20, 105–115, 121–122, 248, 268, 280 Mk.16:15 260 Mt.15:21–28 20, 23, 89, 105, 108, 110, 115, 121 birthing process 248, 266 Bloch, Ernst 121 Blomjous, Joseph 64 Blyden, Edward Wilmot 38 Bosch, David J. 33 Buddhism 77, 133, 137–138, 143–144, 162 Bujo, Benezet 83, 188 catechesis 55, 84, 219, 251, 255, 264 Catholic Christianity 163 Catholic Counter Reformation 131, 145– 148 CCF (Christian Children’s Fund) 176 China 78, 130, 132–137, 142–144, 147– 148, 150, 153, 155–157, 160, 162, 164, 197–199, 211, 257, 287, 289 Chinese literati 131 Chinese rites 132, 134, 158–161, 165, 198

Christian culture 19, 21, 33, 59, 60, 64, 70, 76, 200, 201, 209, 233, 236–237, 242, 264 mission 17, 22, 23, 25, 27, 48, 62, 157, 257, 261, 279, 285, 288, 290 missionaries 23, 36, 39, 44, 61, 84,90, 117–118, 165, 178, 181, 183, 221, 250, 278, 293 religion 29, 37, 65, 92, 139, 209 tradition 58, 76, 78, 85, 190, 201, 205, 218, 220, 224, 230, 235– 237, 248–249, 253, 261, 263– 264, 280 Church 18, 22, 27–33, 35–36, 38, 42, 48–55, 57–58, 60–61, 72–74, 121, 134, 140–141, 143, 145– 148, 157, 162–163, 167, 176, 178–179, 198, 205, 238–239, 254, 257, 259–260, 265, 267, 295 citizens 234, 269, 271, 273 citizenship 239, 271–273, 276 – see also inclusive citizenship Clavius, Christopher 134–135 codes 241–242 Colenso, John William 38 collaboration 19, 116, 120, 143, 178, 219, 222, 232, 258, 266, 274, 278–279, 287–288, 291 cultural 258 interreligious 120, 219, 267 collaborative partnerships 238 collegiality 117 colonialism 27, 34–41, 45, 49, 177–178 colonisation 33, 35, 40, 41, 42, 52, 57, 124, 141, 142, 216, 251 Columbus, Christopher 139 common ground 91, 104, 133, 149, 152, 156, 164, 263, 274 communicative praxis 90, 116 Communion of Saints 77, 78, 196, 207

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compassion 25, 82, 110–111, 124–126, 239, 258, 262, 268–271, 290– 291, 296 conducive environment 251–253 conflict 17, 19, 45, 90–91, 108, 112, 141, 157–158, 162, 180, 195, 239, 279, 290 Confucianism 24, 77, 131, 133, 137– 138, 144, 149–150, 152, 156– 157, 162, 257, 287 Confucian rites 133, 155, 157–159, 162 Confucian spirituality 133 Confucius 131, 133, 153, 157, 159–160 conversation 13, 16, 24–25, 57, 59, 60, 71, 84, 90, 91, 93–95, 96–97, 102–103, 105, 110, 112–113, 116–117, 121, 124, 126, 136, 143, 147, 149, 151–152, 181, 209–212, 217–218, 220, 236– 237, 240, 244–247, 249, 266– 267, 270, 275, 278–279, 282, 283 1st evolution 246 2nd evolution 246–247 3rd evolution 247–248 4th evolution 248–249 5th evolution 249–250 6th evolution 250 principles of 240 conscientisation (intercultural) 212, 215, 217, 222, 227, 228–230, 241, 250, 278 conscientização 229 cooperatives 227 Council of Trent 32, 146 critical reflection 223, 237, 248 CRS (Catholic Relief Services) 176 cultural accommodation 23, 132, 143, 145, 156, 159, 161, 198 borrowing 77–79 diversity 28, 48, 52, 57, 210, 262 interdependence 286

imposition 31 culture 16, 19, 21–24, 28–29, 32–39, 45– 75, 81, 83, 86, 92, 93, 100–101, 103–105, 111–113, 117, 123, 125, 127, 129, 130–133, 139, 141–142, 147, 150–155, 158, 160, 161, 164–167, 171, 176, 179, 181, 184, 190, 193, 196, 198, 199, 205, 211, 213, 215, 218, 223, 226, 228, 230, 232, 246, 250–255, 259, 261, 264, 266, 270, 273, 277, 280, 290, 294 – see also monocultural culture circles 224 curriculum 240, 243 customs 15, 28, 36, 45, 61, 77, 85, 123, 131, 142–143, 147, 153–154, 156, 158, 162, 179, 189, 196, 198–199, 201, 241, 261 Da Gama, Vasco 139 Dainichi (the great sun) 143 dehumanisation 111, 218, 232, 294 – see also humanisation DELTA (Development Leadership Teams in Action ) 179 democracy (participatory) 273–274 DEP (Development Education Programme) 178 dignity 51, 74, 78, 97, 108, 111–112, 120, 123–124, 127, 177, 178, 184, 209, 213–216, 218, 222, 224–225, 232–233, 236, 238, 242, 248, 255, 258, 261, 263, 265, 269–275, 277–279, 288, 295 discernment (intercultural) 60, 230–231 divination 127, 128–129, 236, 249 divinisation 261 domesticating interculturation 124, 212, 216, 231–232, 264, 283 Donovan, Vincent 60–61 double entendre 95

Dupuis, Jacques 295 economic globalisation 57, 63, 239, 271, 285 Eck, Dianna L. 257 education 13, 22, 35, 42, 49, 137, 146, 176, 178–179, 209, 213, 216, 219, 227, 231–232, 262, 266, 271, 277–280 christian 16, 122, 275–276 religious 13, 161, 165, 209, 221, 230, 233, 234, 267, 275, 296 Elà, Jean-Marie 39, 45 empowerment 122, 211, 215, 216–217, 228, 260 enlightenment 22, 33, 34, 37, 133, 230, 262 equality 50, 104, 111, 213, 246, 265, 277 Eucharist 126, 127, 249 evangelisation ‘banking’ or ‘domesticating’ 231 Christian 16, 19, 21, 23, 25, 31, 36– 38, 41, 43, 49, 52, 57, 59, 62, 65, 72, 79, 87, 129, 133, 145, 160, 163, 180, 195, 198, 199, 211, 219, 225, 230, 232, 242, 251, 255, 257, 259–267, 271, 281, 289, 295 Islamic 18 prophetic 220, 225 religious 89, 212, 234, 263, 288–289 faith Christian 14, 15, 17, 22, 27, 28–46, 47–48, 49, 52, 60, 62, 65, 75, 86, 133, 145, 162, 195, 200, 204, 209, 240, 252, 254, 264, 285, 295 formation 203–204, 267 Islamic 15 religious 42, 65, 205, 213, 227, 293 universalising 21 famine 43, 44, 120, 164, 171, 177, 178,

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180, 181, 186, 204, 205, 279 foreign missions 229 Franciscans 164 Francis of Assisi 31, 146 Freire, Paulo 211, 215, 216–219, 224, 225, 226, 228, 229, 232, 241, 246 friendship 13, 14, 72, 108, 116, 123, 135, 138, 155, 157, 239, 296

273,

222, 231, 120, 165,

Galileo 135 Geertz, Clifford 66–68, 167 gender 100, 101, 105, 106, 113, 116, 120, 186, 233, 270, 276, 296 gentiles 28, 79, 108, 109, 121, 122 Gittins, Anthony J. 229, 263, 267, 283 global consciousness 269 global interdependence 295 globalisation 57, 63, 75, 101, 239, 271, 282, 283, 285, 289 – see also economic globalisation God as trinitarian 203 God’s reign 16, 24, 73, 74, 78, 84, 100, 149, 162, 167, 181, 182, 195–202, 203, 219, 220, 225, 232, 237, 240, 249, 253, 255, 272, 281, 283 self-revelation 253 universal action 281 universal spirit 91, 118, 209, 220, 282 Good News 17, 62, 112, 183, 211, 220, 260, 261, 294 Gospel vision 36, 38, 45, 48, 49, 54, 63, 64, 71, 77, 117, 127, 160, 164, 182, 195, 196, 198, 201, 215, 217, 220, 232, 233, 251, 257, 260, 263, 264, 265, 274, 282, 285, 295 governance (intercultural) 274

316

Grenham, Thomas G. 301 Groome, Thomas H. 13, 235, 240 Guinea Bissau 216 Guinean people 216 Gundry-Volf, Judith 108, 109 Gutiérrez, Gustavo 121, 123 hellenistic 28, 29 Hillman, Eugene 35, 45, 46, 62, 78 home missions 229 hope 120, 121, 122, 123, 125, 139, 182, 217, 220, 221, 222, 225, 236, 237, 249, 262, 288, 293, 294, 296 Hsing-San, Shih 136 humanisation 51, 53, 58, 76, 119–120, 181, 211, 216, 217–219, 222, 224, 234–236, 241, 250, 257, 294 human experience 67, 82, 83, 85, 119, 120, 122, 162, 164, 184, 203, 212, 223–224, 230, 236, 240, 241, 247, 248, 250, 252, 259, 277, 290 freedom 23, 86, 87, 118, 125, 127, 128, 130, 202, 212, 213, 221, 223, 232, 233, 234, 240, 252, 276, 279, 283, 288 meaning 74, 255, 258, 259–262 meaning-making 74, 119 Ignatian Spiritual Exercises 151 incarnation 54, 56, 62, 150, 203, 257, 282, 294 inclusive citizenship 271–272 inculturation 22, 28, 54–62, 63, 64–65, 75, 86, 148, 257, 287 indigenisation 47, 54, 62 interconnectedness 189, 266, 270 intercultural conversation 93, 211, 212, 252 intercultural exchanges 276–278

interculturation 18, 22, 23–25, 48, 62, 63–87, 89, 90, 105, 116–118, 131, 132, 133, 134, 148, 152, 159, 160, 161, 162, 164, 165, 181, 182, 195, 196, 197, 199, 204, 209, 211–212, 216, 221– 225, 228, 231, 235, 236, 239, 240, 242, 245, 251, 255, 257, 258, 261, 266, 272, 274, 278, 283–293 – see also domesticating interculturation interculturation and curriculum 212, 240, 243 – see also curriculum interdependence 117, 232, 257, 259, 265, 270, 276, 277, 286, 295 – see also cultural interdependence Iraq 18, 91, 293 Ireland 13, 14, 29, 266, 278, 285 Irish Missionary Union (IMU) 278 Islam 18, 25, 76, 77, 165, 293 Jesus Christ 16, 17, 28, 54, 60, 71, 76, 82, 83, 84, 85, 89, 92, 118, 126, 195, 197, 199, 222, 230, 231, 234, 236, 248, 254–255, 266, 281, 282, 289, 294 commission of 260 priesthood of 260 John Paul II 293 Judeo-Christian tradition 205 – see also Christian faith justice 25, 73, 74, 80, 92, 122, 124, 161, 209, 213, 219, 220, 222, 235, 251, 255, 257, 258, 267, 268– 278, 279, 288, 290, 296 as right relationships 92, 235, 255 Biblical sense 92 kenosis 238 Kenya 13, 14, 15, 18, 24, 25, 35, 37, 41, 42, 43, 44, 62, 86, 160, 167, 168, 171, 175, 176, 177, 178, 214, 222, 231, 261

Kimbangu, Simon 38 Kimbanguism 38 kinship 214, 243 Knitter, Paul F. 211, 296 koinonia 268 Lamphear, John 168 language 17, 40, 44, 49, 55, 69, 73, 78, 79–80, 81, 82, 84, 87, 108, 130, 131, 135, 136, 137, 143, 147, 148, 152, 164, 169, 184, 200, 203, 209, 216, 218, 237, 242, 290, 294 Lee, Dorothy A. 85, 93, 104 liberal capitalism 180, 262 liberation 58, 85, 118, 119, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126–129, 161, 162, 177, 181, 218, 219, 225, 226, 231, 237, 248, 275, liberative contextual theologies 35 liberative interculturation 87, 89 liberative zones 273 lifestyle 42, 156, 164, 176, 180, 199 literacy education 216 liturgy 36, 52, 74, 125, 126–127, 238 Lodwar 44, 171 Lumbala, Kabasele 190 Luther, Martin 32, 145 Maasai 60, 61, 178 Magesa, Laurenti 60, 128, 187, 189 marginalisation 180, 221, 272, 294 marginalised 120, 123, 164, 165, 167, 238, 260, 270, 276, 278, 281, 294 marketplace 278–281 Mbiti, John 203 metaphors 79, 80–82, 85, 87, 184 Miller, Charles 170 Minamiki, George 158 mission 13, 27, 39, 41, 44, 46, 47, 62, 71, 75, 83, 96, 102, 103, 104, 108, 111, 114, 116, 117, 118,

317

121, 129, 130, 136, 144, 167 – see also Christian mission mission history 20, 22, 23, 27–62 monocultural 35, 50, 283 multi-national corporations 271 Muslim 31, 141, 175, 176 myths 46, 68, 162, 207–210, 217, 218, 223 and exclusion 201, 217, 224, 231, 237, 262, 277 narrative 20, 23, 84, 86, 87, 89, 90, 93, 104, 114, 119, 120, 181, 191, 206, 208, 217, 218, 262 Neo-Confucianism 134 new creation 57, 223, 253, 261 NGOs (non-government agencies) 175, 176 nomadic pastoralists 81, 168–170, 171, 176 NORAD (Norwegian Agency for International Development) 175 Nussbaum, Martha 269 Oduyoye, Mercy 208 Okure, Teresa 96, 97, 99 pacification 42, 177, 227, 251, 261 pagan 34, 61, 106, 108, 110 Palmer, Parker 241 Pan-Africanist Movement 37 Parliament of the World’s Religions 278 partnership 22, 60, 65, 71, 72, 105, 114, 117, 120, 122, 129, 160, 167, 182, 183, 210, 220, 221, 238, 252, 257, 267, 273, 294 – see also collaborative partnership pastoral agents 212, 225, 237, 239, 283, 285 Paul VI 54, 55, 56 peace 73, 122, 128, 161, 213, 220, 232, 255, 257, 266, 269, 278–288, 296

318

pedagogy 24, 221–223, 226, 240, 241, 270, 279 and methodology 24, 24, 27, 46, 50, 68, 210, 211, 255 persons-in-relationship 213, 243, 273 philosophy 13, 29, 131, 132, 135, 138, 148, 152, 156, 180, 211, 212– 215, 241 pluralism 23, 25, 48, 57, 62, 75, 117, 265 Portugal 32, 41, 135, 139, 140, 141, 142 postmodern 262 poverty 16, 31, 44, 120, 125, 127, 128, 180, 222, 229, 231, 238, 246, 270, 272, 279, 282, 293 power 25, 27, 29, 32, 36, 39, 61, 72, 80, 81, 86, 98, 108, 128, 130, 142, 146, 174, 184, 187, 192, 206, 212, 225, 241, 246, 250–251, 259, 279 praxis 90, 116, 162, 167, 211, 212, 213, 236 and conversation 16, 24, 59, 60, 64, 71 – see also communicative praxis predujice 81, 93, 112, 113, 114, 209, 239, 270 proselytising 231, 288 Protestant Reformation 32, 146 proto-ancestor 83 Raguin, Yves 150, 165 reconciliation 25, 64, 74, 122, 128, 182, 204–207, 213, 226, 249, 255, 257, 261, 266, 278–286, 290 and forgiveness 64, 74, 129, 205, 220, 225, 249, 255, 266, 288 and peace 278, 279, 280, 283 relational interdependence 265, 276 – see also interdependence and cultural interdependence relationship (covenant) 295 religion 19, 29, 36, 37, 61, 65, 66–69, 71, 76, 78, 80, 103, 105, 110,

113, 132, 142, 153, 155, 162, 180, 202, 211, 225, 270, 276, 289, 290 religious reconstruction 181–182 respect 27, 97, 103, 153, 156, 193, 202, 207, 274 resurrection 17, 86, 118, 204, 206, 207, 223, 254, 255, 294 reverse mission 229, 265 Ricci, Matteo 20, 23, 32, 47, 123, 131– 166, 197, 199, 200, 211, 287, 289 Roman Catholicism 140 Ruggeri, Michele 136, 138 Saint Patrick’s Missionary Society 13, 284 salvation 28, 29, 34, 46, 52, 53, 61, 72, 83, 103, 110, 128, 129, 137, 146, 159, 162, 199, 221, 244, 282 Samaritan culture 92, 117 Samaritan woman at the well 20, 23, 87, 90, 119, 248, 263 Sanneh, Lamin 40, 265 Schreiter, Robert 66, 68, 72, 73, 241, 242 Sebes, Joseph 139, 143, 157 shared human meaning 258–263 Sharia law 90 Shorter, Aylward 32, 50, 59, 60, 117 slave trade 34, 142 small Christian communities 225 solidarity 38, 129, 190, 213, 232, 235, 238, 260, 265, 267, 269, 270, 271, 272, 274, 275, 276, 293, 294 soteriology (interreligious and intercultural) 104, 281–283 South Africa 39, 226 Spain 31, 32, 139, 140, 141, 142 spirituality 14, 66, 77, 133, 146, 222, 225, 237, 245, 261, 262, 287, 289, 290

Sturm, Douglas 268 subjugation 208, 209, 264 symbols 15, 19, 46, 61, 66, 68, 84–87, 93, 126, 184, 186, 190, 194, 201, 203, 206, 236, 237, 242, 249, 250, 254, 261, 280, 281 cultural and religious 15, 19, 67, 68, 84, 182, 201, 255, 261 syncretism 72, 73, 182, 289 Synoptic Gospels 89 Syrophoenican woman 23, 87, 89, 105– 115, 116, 117, 121, 128, 223, 260, 280, 290 taboos 89, 100, 235 Taoism 134, 137, 162, 164 Tempels, Placide 38 Theissen, Gerd 109, 113 theology (liberative) 23, 118, 122, 124, 127, 128 Ting-Toomey, Stella 63 traditional religion 25, 48, 60, 62, 78, 83, 125, 196, 208, 209, 293 transcendence 75, 86, 89, 92, 104–105, 126, 220, 267, 282, 289 transcendent reality 22, 85, 203 transformation 16, 19, 24, 35, 55, 59, 63, 68, 69, 71, 74, 77, 104, 109, 112–113, 115, 118, 119, 123, 125, 133, 145, 146, 179, 193, 202–204, 208, 216, 226, 229, 233, 236, 242, 250, 255, 263, 264–267, 270, 277, 280, 295 translation 17, 40, 44, 79, 84, 85, 155, 195, 200 Truth Commission 226 truths 53, 80, 117, 118, 133, 151, 159, 232 Turkana of Kenya ancestors 188–189 indigenous religion 68, 205, 220 initiation 193–194 ‘living dead’ 128, 221, 249

319

mediators (diviners) 184–186 rituals 190–191 sacrifice 192–193 societal organisation 173–174 spirits 191–192 view of God 186–187 way of life 172–173 Uganda 42, 43, 168, 170, 248 UNICEF 176 utopia 226 Valignano, Alessandro 136, 138, 144, 145 Vatican II Ad Gentes 56, 73, 74 Gaudium et Spes 51, 52

320

Nostra Aetate 52 western world 74, 143, 265, 266 Wierzbicka, Anna 79, 80 wisdom 14, 15, 144, 150, 212, 219, 234– 236, 296 Witek, John D. 144, 148 witness 16, 53, 60, 71, 101, 102, 104, 110, 237, 255, 282, 293, 295 World Council of Churches (WCC) 278 World Vision 176 Xavier, Francis 143–144, 146, 150 xenophobia 147 Zulus 39 and polygamy 38

Religions and Discourse Edited by James M. M. Francis Religions and Discourse explores religious language in the major world faiths from various viewpoints, including semiotics, pragmatics and cognitive linguistics, and reflects on how it is situated within wider intellectual and cultural contexts. In particular a key issue is the role of figurative speech. Many fascinating metaphors originate in religion e.g. revelation as a ‘garment’, apostasy as ‘adultery’, loving kindness as the ‘circumcision of the heart’. Every religion rests its specific orientations upon symbols such as these, to name but a few. The series strives after the interdisciplinary approach that brings together such diverse disciplines as religious studies, theology, sociology, philosophy, linguistics and literature, guided by an international editorial board of scholars representative of the aforementioned disciplines. Though scholarly in its scope, the series also seeks to facilitate discussions pertaining to central religious issues in contemporary contexts. The series will publish monographs and collected essays of a high scholarly standard.

Volume 1

Ralph Bisschops and James Francis (eds): Metaphor, Canon and Community. 307 pages. 1999. ISBN 3-906762-40-8 / US-ISBN 0-8204-4234-8

Volume 2

Lieven Boeve and Kurt Feyaerts (eds): Metaphor and God Talk. 291 pages. 1999. ISBN 3-906762-51-3 / US-ISBN 0-8204-4235-6

Volume 3

Jean-Pierre van Noppen: Transforming Words. 248 pages. 1999. ISBN 3-906762-52-1 / US-ISBN 0-8204-4236-4

Volume 4

Robert Innes: Discourses of the Self. 236 pages. 1999. ISBN 3-906762-53-X / US-ISBN 0-8204-4237-2

Volume 5

Noel Heather: Religious Language and Critical Discourse Analysis. 319 pages. 2000. ISBN 3-906762-54-8 / US-ISBN 0-8204-4238-0

Volume 6

Stuart Sim and David Walker: Bunyan and Authority. 239 pages. 2000. ISBN 3-906764-44-3 / US-ISBN 0-8204-4634-3

Volume 7

Simon Harrison: Conceptions of Unity in Recent Ecumenical Discussion. 282 pages. 2000. ISBN 3-906758-51-6 / US-ISBN 0-8204-5073-1

Volume 8

Gill Goulding: On the Edge of Mystery. 256 pages. 2000. ISBN 3-906758-80-X / US-ISBN 0-8204-5087-1

Volume 9

Kune Biezeveld and Anne-Claire Mulder (eds.): Towards a Different Transcendence. 358 pages. 2001. ISBN 3-906765-66-0 / US-ISBN 0-8204-5303-X

Volume 10 George Newlands: John and Donald Baillie: Transatlantic Theology. 451 pages. 2002. ISBN 3-906768-41-4 / US-ISBN 0-8204-5853-8 Volume 11 Kenneth Fleming: Asian Christian Theologians in Dialogue with Buddhism. 388 pages. 2002. ISBN 3-906768-42-2 / US-ISBN 0-8204-5854-6 Volume 12 N. H. Keeble (ed.): John Bunyan: Reading Dissenting Writing. 277 pages. 2002. ISBN 3-906768-52-X / US-ISBN 0-8204-5864-3 Volume 13 Robert L. Platzner (ed.): Gender, Tradition and Renewal. 165 pages. 2005. ISBN 3-906769-64-X / US-ISBN 0-8204-5901-1 Volume 14 Michael Ipgrave: Trinity and Inter Faith Dialogue: Plenitude and Plurality. 397 pages. 2003. ISBN 3-906769-77-1 / US-ISBN 0-8204-5914-3 Volume 15 Kurt Feyaerts (ed.): The Bible through Metaphor and Translation: A Cognitive Semantic Perspective. 298 pages. 2003. ISBN 3-906769-82-8 / US-ISBN 0-8204-5919-4 Volume 16 Andrew Britton and Peter Sedgwick: Economic Theory and Christian Belief. 310 pages. 2003. ISBN 3-03910-015-7 / US-ISBN 0-8204-6284-5 Volume 17 James M. M. Francis: Adults as Children: The Image of the Child in the Ancient World and the New Testament. Forthcoming. ISBN 3-03910-020-3 / US-ISBN 0-8204-6289-6

Volume 18 David Jasper and George Newlands (eds): Believing in the Text: Essays from the Centre for the Study of Literature, Theology and the Arts, University of Glasgow 248 pages. 2004. ISBN 3-03910-076-9 / US-ISBN 0-8204-6892-4 Volume 19 Leonardo De Chirico: Evangelical Theological Perspectives on post-Vatican II Roman Catholicism. 337 pages. 2003. ISBN 3-03910-145-5 / US-ISBN 0-8204-6955-6 Volume 20 Heather Ingman: Women’s Spirituality in the Twentieth Century: An Exploration through Fiction. 232 pages. 2004. ISBN 3-03910-149-8 / US-ISBN 0-8204-6959-9 Volume 21 Ian R. Boyd: Dogmatics among the Ruins: German Expressionism and the Enlightenment as Contexts for Karl Barth’s Theological Development. 349 pages. 2004. ISBN 3-03910-147-1 / US-ISBN 0-8204-6957-2 Volume 22 Forthcoming. Volume 23 Malcolm Brown: After the Market: Economics, Moral Agreement and the Churches’ Mission. 321 pages. 2004. ISBN 3-03910-154-4 / US-ISBN 0-8204-6964-5 Volume 24 Vivienne Blackburn: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Simone Weil: A Study in Christian Responsiveness. 272 pages. 2004. ISBN 3-03910-253-2 / US-ISBN 0-8204-7182-8 Volume 25 Thomas G. Grenham: The Unknown God: Religious and Theological Interculturation. 320 pages. 2005. ISBN 3-03910-261-3 / US-ISBN 0-8204-7190-9 Volume 26 & 27 Forthcoming. Volume 28 James Barnett (ed.): A Theology for Europe: The Churches and the European Institutions. ??? pages. 2005. ISBN 3-03910-505-1 / US-ISBN 0-8204-7511-4